Hey guys! I just wanted to apologize for the longer than usual wait. I started a new job last week so my writing schedule shifted a bit. I'm all caught up and back on track again so updates should be back to their normal, weekly schedule. Thank you so much for the of the amazing reviews. This chapter is pretty intense so hold on to your phones, keyboards, iPads, pillows, or whatever else you need to and enjoy the ride!
Chapter 14 - The Hunter Within
Cassandra walked alongside Rebekah down the hallway leading to the school cafeteria. She had agreed to help Rebekah with cleaning up the mess left over from the dance the previous night. She felt it was the least she could do for the original vampire after all the hard work she'd put into organizing the dance that she ended up not getting to attend, though Cassandra's spirits were slightly dampened once they entered the cafeteria and she saw just how much they would have to do.
"Well, best to just get on with it then," Rebekah grabbed a blue trash bin and began picking up stuff to be thrown away. Cassandra nodded and grabbed another trash can to fill up. A couple of minutes had gone by when she heard footsteps and looked up to see her sister walking into the cafeteria.
"Cass, what are you doing here?" Caroline was pleasantly surprised to see her. Realizing who wasn't there, she glanced at Rebekah. "Wait, where's Matt?"
"He bailed. Got called into work at the last minute," Rebekah answered as she discarded some empty plastic glasses into the trash been she was holding.
"Are you kidding me?" Caroline was shocked. "So, it's just the three of us?"
"Yes, and you're late. Clean up committee started at eight o'clock."
"It's like 8:02."
"Exactly. Cassandra and I managed to turn up on time, and I didn't even get to attend the dance that I organized," Rebekah walked past Caroline to pick up more empty cups. Cassandra held her breath for a moment, unsure if a fight between her sister and Rebekah was about to break out.
"I'm sorry about your mom," Caroline spoke in a softer voice. The comment surprised Cassandra. "I mean, I know you, like, hated her and everything. But, still. I'm sorry."
Rebekah stared at her, taken aback by her kind words. She emptied the small bin of trash she was holding into a larger trash can and looked back at Caroline. "Sorry about your teacher. He seemed like a nice guy."
"Yeah. He was," Both Caroline and Cassandra answered at the same time. They glanced at each other and shared a small smile.
"You two keep working in here. I'm going to get started on the gym," Rebekah turned around and walked out of the cafeteria.
Caroline walked over to help Cassandra pick up trash. "I'm surprised you're here and not back at Klaus's packing," she had a hint of sadness in her voice at the prospect of Cassandra leaving town.
"Yeah, about that," Cassandra started to say when Caroline put a hand up to silence her.
"Oh my god," Caroline whispered, her eyes widening in horror. "Cass, run! Get out of here as fast as you can!"
Before Cassandra could ask why, Caroline had disappeared out of the room. She heeded Caroline's advice and bolted from the cafeteria. When she got to the parking lot, she made a beeline for her car. As she was digging around in her purse for her keys, Caroline suddenly appeared behind her.
"Hurry!" Caroline shrieked in her ear.
Cassandra had her keys out, but her hands were trembling as she tried to grasp her clicker so she could hit the unlock button in it, causing her to drop them. She quickly reached down to pick them up, and when she leaned back up she froze at the sound of bones cracking from behind her. She looked at the reflection in the window of her car and yelped in surprise when she saw the glaring face of Alaric. She started to turn around to face him when he grabbed a fistful of her hair and banged her forehead against the window, causing it to shatter onto the driver's seat below. She screamed as her head exploded with pain. Ignoring her cries, Alaric moved his hand to the back of her neck, gripping her tightly, and dragged Caroline's limp body by her arm as he headed back inside the school with both Forbes sisters before the sun could cause too much damage to him. He didn't see Rebekah watching from a few yards away.
"How..how are you.." Cassandra stammered softly.
"Alive?" Alaric glanced at her. His lips curled into a devious smirk. "I'm not."
"Oh my god. You're a…"
"A vampire, yes," he answered as they walked into his classroom. He dropped Caroline's body on one of the desks and turned his head to look at Cassandra. Her eyes widened in fear as his face slowly changed. He let go of her neck and grabbed her by the hair, tilting her head to the side. She screamed as he bit into her neck. It hurt even more than when Stefan had bitten her. She could feel the life slowly being drained out of her the longer he drank.
"Whoops," he finally released her, allowing her weak body to slump to the floor in front of his desk as he wiped her blood from his mouth. "Almost drank you dry. Can't have you dying on me. Not yet anyway."
Cassandra somehow managed to push herself up into a sitting position and leaned back against the desk. Her head throbbed and she could feel stickiness on her forehead. She brought her hand up to touch it, the bright red blood confirming she had a gash from hitting the car window. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had a concussion too. Looking over at Alaric, she saw him tying a gag around Caroline's mouth. She flinched when he positioned Caroline's hands on the desktop and slammed wooden pencils through the top of each one.
"Why are you doing this?" She cried out in a whisper.
"You'll see," he answered simply. "Oh, and if you try to call anyone for help, I'll make your sister watch as I slam this stake through your heart."
Cassandra slowly nodded that his message had been received loud and clear. She watched as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number before bringing it up to his ear. Suddenly, Caroline's eyes snapped open as she came to. Cassandra locked eyes with her, somehow feeling the tiniest bit of comfort to have her sister conscious again, even if she was restrained.
"Listen closely," Cassandra heard Alaric speak into the phone, positioning himself next to her and in front of Caroline. "I have Caroline and Cassandra. And if you want to keep them alive, I need you to get in your car and come down here right away. If you tell anyone where you are going, I will kill them."
He ended the call and walked over to Caroline. He untied the cloth that she had in her mouth and dipped it into a beaker full of a golden liquid before tying it back around her. She screamed in pain as the skin around her mouth started to burn.
"No! Stop!" Cassandra cried out weakly. "Please stop hurting her!"
Alaric ignored her cries and walked over to sit behind his desk, twirling the now indestructible white oak stake in his hands. He repeated the process every few minutes. Cassandra's heart broke every time she had to endure her sister's cries of agony.
He was seated at his desk when he turned his chair to face the door, having heard Elena finally enter the school. "Right on time," he murmured.
Cassandra looked over at the doorway as Elena came running up. "Elena..." she whispered.
"Cass, Caroline," she gasped as she looked at both of them before turning to Alaric. "Let them go, Alaric!"
"Free them yourself," he motioned at his prisoners.
Elena stared at Alaric, unsure if she could really believe him, then hurried over to help Caroline She knelt down beside her and rubbed her arm soothingly before reaching for the pencil that was stabbed in Caroline's hand. Caroline whimpered as Elena started to pull it out, but before she could remove it entirely, Alaric appeared and slammed it back down into Caroline's hand, causing her to scream loudly.
"You said that you would let her go!" Elena jumped to her feet and spun around to face him.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Elena? Stop trusting vampires!" Alaric roared at her. "Now sit down."
Elena slid into the desk beside Caroline. "I am so sorry you guys," she murmured to Caroline and Cassandra.
"It's not your fault, 'Lena," Cassandra murmured. She felt her eyes start to grow heavy. "I'm so tired."
"No!" Elena gasped softly. "You've gotta stay awake, Cass. You can do it."
Cassandra blinked a few times to refocus her eyes. "Mmm. Oh. Right. I probably have a concussion."
They fell silent when they heard Alaric talking on his phone to Stefan. After the call, he walked back over to Caroline and untied the cloth to dip it into the beaker again before bringing it back to tie around her.
"No, no more. Please no more!" Caroline begged.
"Alaric stop!" Elena stood up as he moved behind Caroline.
He pushed Elena back into her seat. "Sit down!" He tied the cloth around Caroline's mouth. She cried out as her skin began to sizzle and burn again. "This keeps the vervain in her system. It's like inhaling razor blades with every breath."
Elena reached over and stroked Caroline's arm. "Why are you doing this?" She asked.
"To make it easier on you when you put her out of her misery," Alaric picked up the stake from beside the beaker and walked over to stand in front of Elena.
"What?! No!" Elena cried out.
"No! Don't!" Cassandra begged.
"Isn't this what you wanted? What you both wanted? For me to teach you how to kill vampires?" He looked from Elena to Cassandra, then held the white oak stake out to Elena. "Well, here's a vampire, Elena. Kill her."
"This isn't what I want."
"Of course it is. All those hours you spent training, getting stronger, you could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart."
He continued to hold the stake out, but Elena refused to take it. Aggravated, Alaric started to pace around the classroom.
"Why are you doing this?" Elena demanded an answer.
"Because you need me," Alaric stopped and turned to face her, lowering his voice. "Because you're an eighteen-year-old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore."
"Look at you. How is this right?" she motioned at Caroline and Cassandra.
Alaric pointed at Caroline with the stake. "She's a murderer. She told me she killed someone and liked it. Now how is that right? See, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their life's mission to keep this town safe. They weren't dead six months before you undid it all."
"You don't know anything about them," she hissed.
"Why, am I wrong?" Do you actually think they'd be proud of you?" He knelt down in front of Elena. "If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them."
He turned his head to look at Cassandra. "And you. You're sleeping with the worst vampire of them all. If you weren't such good bait, I'd have killed you already."
Cassandra wanted to tell him he was wrong, that she wasn't sleeping with Klaus, but she couldn't get her voice to work.
"Now kill her," Alaric rose to his feet and held the stake out to Elena again. "Or I'll do it for you and I'll make it hurt. Get up!"
He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of her seat. He dragged her over to stand in front of Caroline and placed the stake in her hand. Elena gripped it and stared at Caroline for a couple of seconds before taking a deep breath and spinning around to plunge it into Alaric. Unfortunately, he was ready for her action and quickly grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
"I thought I taught you better than that," he growled softly.
"You did," Elena sneered and grabbed the beaker on the desk beside them, breaking it over his head. He screamed in pain as his flesh started to sizzle and burn. Elena turned around and removed the cloth from Caroline's mouth, then pulled the pencils out of her hands. "Get help!"
As Caroline rushed out of the classroom, Elena hurried over and helped Cassandra to her feet. They started to move towards the door when Alaric blocked their path. He grabbed both of them and pulled them out into the hallway. He threw Cassandra against a locker. More pain exploded in her head as she slowly sunk to the floor. She pressed her hand to the back of her head to dull the pain as best she could while she looked up at a blurry Alaric. He had grabbed Elena by the throat and now held her up against the lockers.
"I should kill you," he growled. "I should gut you like Brian Walters, Bill Forbes, and all the other cowards I plan on ripping apart. You're the worst offender of them all, Elena. You don't deserve to live."
"So then why am I still alive? There's obviously no humanity left in you. So what's stopping you, Alaric? If you want me dead then kill me," Elena gasped for breath. Alaric's face started to change. His eyes turned red and veins appeared under them. Elena yelled for him to kill her. "Do it! Kill me!"
A long moment passed before Alaric's face went back to normal and he released her from his grasp. Cassandra and Elena both realized the same thing at the same time, that he couldn't actually kill her.
Out of nowhere, Stefan and Damon rushed up to Alaric from behind and grabbed him by his arms. Alaric was stronger than them, though, and easily pushed them away. He broke Stefan's back, causing him to collapse on the ground in a heap, and snapped Damon's neck. Cassandra blinked and suddenly Klaus was there, his fingers digging into Alaric's chest. After a few seconds of struggling, Alaric twisted back Klaus's wrist with a loud crack, causing Klaus to yell out in pain.
"Klaus!" Cassandra screamed as Alaric threw him across the floor. She screamed again as Alaric tried to stab him with the white oak stake. Cassandra tried to pull herself up onto her feet, but she was too weak. She hadn't noticed when Elena ran back into Alaric's classroom and came back with something in her hand.
"Stop!" Elena yelled as she held a knife to her own throat. "Let him go, or I'll kill myself."
"Put it down, Elena," Alaric sighed softly.
"Why?" Because you still need me alive? There's a reason why Esther used me to make you, isn't there? She didn't want you to be immortal, so she tied your life to a human one—mine. That way you only have one life span to kill all vampires and then you'll be gone. So when I die, you die too. That's it. It has to be!"
"You're wrong."
"Am I?" Elena started to cut her throat.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Alaric cried out in a panic. It was the moment Klaus had been waiting for. He threw Alaric off of him and sped towards Elena, grabbing her, then Cassandra, and fled the school.
The next thing Cassandra knew they were back in her room at the mansion. Klaus carefully eased her down onto the bed.
"I'll be right back, love," he murmured softly before rushing out of the room with Elena.
Cassandra sat motionless for a long moment before the need to sleep became overpowering. She'd barely placed her head on her pillow when Klaus appeared in the doorway. In a flash he was at the bedside, biting his wrist as he lifted her back up and sat down beside her, allowing her to lean back against him.
"It's okay, sweetheart, I've got you. Drink," he brought his wrist to her mouth. She slowly started to suck against his skin. "There you go. That's a good girl."
She pushed his arm down when she'd had enough and let out a long sigh as he stroked her head. Once her strength had returned and her injuries had been healed, she sat up.
"For a moment there, I thought Alaric was going to succeed in killing you," she brushed her hand against his cheek.
"Nonsense," he chuckled, placing his hand on top of hers.
"He needs to be stopped."
"Don't worry, love. He will be."
"But how? He won't die until Elena—oh my god, that's it isn't it?" She dropped her hand from his face and jumped to her feet. "Where is she? What have you done with her?"
She bolted for the door and sprinted down the hall, fully knowing he could stop her at any moment. She saw the back of a brunette head sitting in a chair when she reached the parlor room and ran over to it. She gasped when she saw Elena was unconscious and tied to the chair. She started to reach for the ropes when she blinked and found herself on the other side of the room facing Klaus.
"I don't want to compel you to stay away from her, love, but I will if I have to," he spoke in a low voice. "It'll be painless, I promise. She'll simply fall asleep once she's been drained of all her blood. It must be done to end the hunter."
Cassandra couldn't find her voice and simply shook her head sadly before running out of the parlor and down the hall back to her room. She wasn't paying very close attention to what was in front of her and ran right into a hard body. She looked up as she stumbled backwards a step.
"Tyler!" she threw her arms around his neck. "He's going to kill her"
"Woah, hey," Tyler's arms automatically wrapped around her. "Calm down. Who's killing who now?"
She lifted her head to look at him. "Elena. Klaus is going to kill her to stop Alaric. You have to stop him."
"Ssssh, don't worry," he murmured soothingly. "I won't let anything happen to her."
Cassandra nodded slowly and slowly pulled away from him. "Be careful," she whispered before walking around him and disappearing in her room.
She was zombie-like as she started packing her duffel bag, walking back and forth from the closet to her bed with clothes. She had decided to follow through with her decision to leave town with Klaus the night before, but if Tyler couldn't stop him from killing Elena, she wouldn't go with him.
The longer she thought about Elena and her pending demise, the more it got to her. Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore. She knew she'd never forgive herself if she stood idly by and did nothing. Quietly, she crept out of her room and headed to the parlor, glancing around every few steps for any sign of Klaus. She let out a soft breath when she successfully reached the parlor and saw no sign of the original hybrid anywhere. She started to walk over to the chair Elena was in when Tyler appeared in the room. He held a finger to his lips as he walked over to Elena and began to undo her ropes with ease. Cassandra moved over to the other side of Elena and pulled out the tube that was connected to her arm and draining her blood from her, pressing down on the needle mark with the palm of her hand..
Elena's eyes suddenly widened at the sight of Klaus standing in the doorway, watching them. "Cass, Tyler," she whispered, pulling her arm away from Cassandra and grabbing onto Tyler.
Tyler and Cassandra slowly turned around to see Klaus giving them an icy stare. They slowly stood to their feet. Cassandra moved behind the chair while Tyler stayed put.
"So much for that sire bond," Klaus spoke softly.
"I'm not your little bitch anymore," Tyler told him pointedly.
Klaus smiled briefly at the comment as he walked up to him. Cassandra felt her heart start to speed up slightly at Klaus's close proximity. She had no idea what he'd do to her for trying to help Elena.
"How did you break the sire bond?" Klaus asked.
"By breaking every bone in my body a hundred times for the girl I love," Tyler answered.
"That's impossible," Klaus's eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"Is it?" Tyler raised his eyebrows. He started walking towards Klaus. "Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty. But what would you know about that?"
"You know, you should be thanking me. I gave you a gift. I took away your misery."
"You didn't give a crap about me! You just didn't want to be alone!"
Cassandra could tell by the look on Klaus's face that Tyler had struck a nerve. When Tyler came over to help Elena to her feet, she started to step around the chair to help him when Klaus whooshed forward and pushed Elena and the chair backwards, causing both to fall and Elena to hit her head on the edge of the step leading up and out of the parlor. Cassandra screamed as Klaus grabbed Tyler by the neck and pushed him against the wall.
"Goodbye, Tyler," Klaus raised his arm, readying to rip out Tyler's heart.
"No!" Cassandra cried out.
Tyler grabbed Klaus's raised arm and twisted it around until he had it behind Klaus's back. Out of nowhere Damon and Stefan appeared. Damon grabbed Klaus's other arm while Stefan gripped Klaus by the shoulder and dug his fingers into Klaus's chest, causing Klaus to yell out in pain.
"No! What are you doing! Klaus!" Cassandra cried as she ran around the chair. "Stop it! Let go of him!"
She went straight for Stefan with her arms flailing, swinging at him as hard as she could. Stefan eyed Damon who nodded and let go of Klaus's arm before using his vampire speed to suddenly appear behind Cassandra. He wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides and pulled her back.
"No!" She struggled against Damon's iron grasp. Whatever Stefan was doing was weakening Klaus. She could see it in his eyes. He was completely helpless, and it broke her heart to see him that way. When they locked eyes, the dam inside her broke and tears spilled down her cheeks. His skin started to turn gray and veiny, his eyes wide with terror at what was happening. Eventually, Tyler and Stefan carefully lowered Klaus's immobile body to the floor.
"Here, I'll take her," Tyler walked over to Damon who nodded and allowed him to pull a sobbing Cassandra into his arms.
"Whatever you do…" Damon began.
"Don't let her anywhere near him, I know," Tyler nodded slowly.
Cassandra thought she had a moment as Tyler watched Damon walk over to help Elena up and tried to break free from him to go to Klaus, but he held her back.
"I'm sorry, Cass," he murmured softly as he continued to restrain her.
She finally gave up fighting and sunk to the floor in a heap, forcing Tyler to drop to his knees to continue holding her. She watched helplessly as Stefan and Damon loaded Klaus's desiccated body into a coffin and wheeled him away.
"Come on," Tyler started to pull her up to her feet. "Let's get you—"
"Get away from me!" Cassandra snapped, yanking her arms out of his grasp. "Just go Tyler. Get out of here! GO!"
He gazed at her with sad eyes before turning around and leaving her behind. She remained on the floor for the next little while, staring at the spot where Klaus had been lying, crying softly. She lost track of how long she'd been sitting there in tears before she finally picked herself up off the floor. She shuffled down the hall to her room and grabbed her phone off the bed. She knew exactly who she had to call for help.
"Cassandra, thank god!" Rebekah answered the phone after two rings. "I wasn't sure you'd survive."
"They took him," Cassandra sniffed. "Stefan and Damon. They...they did something to him and took him away in a coffin."
"What do you mean they took him?" Rebekah's tone instantly became worried. Cassandra heard the phone being shuffled, then a new voice started speaking.
"Cassandra, this is Elijah. Tell me exactly what happened to Niklaus," Elijah spoke calmly.
"They did something to him. Stefan had his hand on Klaus's chest. He turned grey and couldn't move."
"They used the desiccation spell," he deduced in a split second.
"Why those bloody…" Rebekah started cursing quietly in the background.
"Desiccation spell?" Cassandra had no idea what that was.
"They stopped his heart. A witch did the same thing to Mikael fifteen years ago. Listen, Rebekah and I are on our way back to Mystic Falls. Rest assured, we will get Niklaus back."
"Okay," Cassandra sighed as she wiped her eyes with the edge of her shirt. She ended the call and headed back to the parlor room to wait for them. A little while later her phone buzzed in her hand. She looked down and saw Caroline's name on the screen. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, but she answered anyway.
"What do you want, Caroline?" Cassandra snapped into the phone.
"Woah," Caroline gasped in surprise. "Tyler told me what happened. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Why do you even care? You finally got what you wanted–Klaus away from me," Cassandra grumbled.
"I had no idea they were going to do that. If I had, I would have tried everything to stop them, because I know how much it would hurt you, and after what I did, hurting you anymore is the last thing I want." Caroline protested her sister's assumptions.
"How do I know you're not just telling me what I want to hear?"
"Seriously? You're seriously doubting my sincerity right now?"
"Right now, I'm having a hard time trusting anyone who isn't a Mikaelson after what just happened to Klaus," Cassandra huffed.
"Well I meant what I said. I'm here if…if you need me, okay?" Caroline murmured softly.
Cassandra was about to speak when Rebekah and Elijah walked into the room. She suddenly didn't want Caroline to know of their presence and give the others a heads up about it before they had a chance to track down where the Salvatore's had taken Klaus.
"Okay. Fine. Look I have to go," she spoke quickly and ended the call before Caroline could protest. She put her phone into her pocket as she stood up and walked over to them. She was taken by surprise when Rebekah wrapped her arms around her in a comforting embrace.
"Do you have any idea where Damon and Stefan would have taken Klaus's body?" Rebekah asked once she'd released Cassandra.
Cassandra shook her head sadly. "I don't know, somewhere far from here. Alaric has the white oak stake."
"They'll die if he uses it on Niklaus," Elijah murmured. He turned his gaze to Rebekah. "Stay here with Cassandra. I'll find out where they've taken him and when I do, you'll be able to retrieve him."