Chapter Fourteen

I stumbled for the third time, almost bringing Elena down with me as we made our way through the tunnels underneath the Lockwood property. We were supposed to be meeting Damon and Ric so that they could show us the weapon Mason had led him to yesterday. I was terrified over what it could possibly be, I hadn't had a particular feeling yet, so I didn't know if whatever it was would actually lead to Klaus' death. But I won't lie, I had been overcome with an intense amount of fear when I had imagined Klaus actually dying, as well as my chest throbbing as painfully as it had since he had been gone. After that, I decided to stop panicking about what I was going to do and just wait to see where my instincts would guide me, knowing that if I let my fear rule me, it would rule me blindly.

'Damn it. If I trip one more time I swear to God.' I muttered, annoyed. Elena laughed, thinking I was hilarious; of course she was the one holding the flashlight so she was able to quite clearly see where she was going.

I turned around when I felt Damon's presence approaching us, only to turn back around when he put his finger to his lips, a mischievous smile in his face. Knowing what he was going to do, I turned my head to face forward, pretending that I had just been casually glancing around.

'Elena!' Damon suddenly shouted, making Elena scream in fright and drop the flashlight onto the floor. Damon and I laughed at her reaction, laughing harder when she glared at us.

'Nice one.' I complimented Damon, lifting my hand up to give him a high five; he returned it, still grinning at Elena.

'You both suck.' Elena said, though her voice lacked conviction and she was fighting a smile.

'Come on you guys, stop acting like five year olds and get your asses down here!' Ric shouted from further down the tunnel.

'Alright grandpa we're coming' I shouted back, with one arm still linked with Elena's I turned, linking my other arm through Damon's dragging them both further down the tunnel with me. We only had to walk a few feet and we came to a doorway, which Damon couldn't pass through. I squeezed his arm as I let go of him and walked forward with Elena. Ric was standing in the middle of the room taking pictures of the wall; he had multiple camp lights on the floor illuminating the entire room. Elena walked to stand next to Ric while I walked closer to the walls. It was covered in drawings and symbols; at first glance it looked like they were drawn on with chalk, but at a closer inspection it was clear it had all been carved. It was incredible, I could practically feel how old these carvings were, and I knew in that moment that Mason had been telling the truth; these carvings were definitely linked to not just Klaus but the entire Original family.

'What is all of this?' Elena asked, staring at all of the drawings looking very overwhelmed.

'Well, as far as I can tell, it's a story. In simple, archaeological terms, it's a really, really old story. That right there, is the moon cycle. A man, a wolf.' Alaric said, pointing to different symbols on the wall as he spoke.

'A werewolf.' I mumbled.

'Yeah, it's the Lockwood Diaries, Pictionary-Style.' Damon muttered from the doorway, making me snort in amusement.

'I don't understand. I thought the Lockwood's came here with the Original Founders in the eighteen sixties?' Elena questioned.

'I don't know. Maybe the Lockwood's did, but according to this wall, these werewolves have been here a lot longer than that.' Ric explained, looking confused himself.

'It gets better, show them Ric.' Damon muttered as I walked forward and placed my hand on a symbol on the wall, feeling drawn to it for some reason.

I could feel Ric's surprise and Damon's confusion before Ric continued, 'Names. They're not native. They're written in Runic, a Viking script.'

'Names?' I asked, my hand still gliding over the same symbol, wondering what it meant, I looked over to Ric to ask him but before I could he continued.

'The one you're touching now, it translates to Niklaus.' Ric said, looking at me curiously.

My brows rose in surprise as I looked back to the symbol, wondering why I had been drawn to this one out of all the others. How had I known?

'And Rebekah and Elijah,' Alaric continued gesturing to the markings underneath.

I was about to ask if he knew what any of the other symbols meant when my vision suddenly went black and I made myself freeze, knowing what was about to happen. I closed my eyes and left my hand resting over Klaus' name, using the wall for support. A few moments later images flooded my brain, and I concentrated on what I was seeing.

I was stood in the same cave, except I was on the opposite wall, right by the doorway. There was a woman with a knife, carving into the wall and a man with shoulder-length blonde hair holding a burning torch as a source of light. I couldn't see their faces and I wondered if I would recognize them. I looked over their clothing and realized with a start that their clothes were very old fashioned; I must have been having a vision of the past, I was snapped out of my thoughts when the man started talking, his voice impatient.

'Rebekah let me have at it!' He said, and I immediately knew who he and her were.

'Hush, Niklaus I am to concentrate if I'm not to slice off a finger.' Rebekah replied, her voice seemingly bored with Klaus' attitude, which made me smile.

'Father will not like you wielding a blade,' Klaus warned, clearly hoping that would change her mind and make her give up.

She paused briefly, looking over to him to glare before she returned to what she was doing, 'If I want to wield a blade, then I shall wield a blade! Father need not know.'

'He'll find out. He always does.' Klaus murmured, his voice barely audible as he looked to the wall briefly before he met Rebekah's gaze when she turned around to walk over to him.

'That is because you always tell him.' Rebekah said, clearly annoyed.

Klaus' expression seemed to morph into one of fear and sorrow, 'I cannot help it. He frightens me.' He admitted, looking down as if he was ashamed of how he felt.

Rebekah's expression softened as she replied, 'he frightens us all. That is why we stick together as one, always and forever.' She paused and a teasing smile lit up her face, 'right traitor?'

Klaus met her gaze and returned her smile, 'right.'

Rebekah held the knife out to him, 'you finish here. I am to help mother with dinner.'

Klaus moved to rest the torch against the cave wall holding out his other hand for the knife, his gaze on the wall as he spoke, 'yes, go tend to dinner, and leave the blades to the men, little sister.' Klaus smirked, making me shake my head at his sexist remark.

Rebekah slammed the blade into his palm, hard enough to make him bleed.

'Bekah!' Klaus exclaimed, pain in his voice.

'It's just a little blood. Be a man about it.' Rebekah smirked before she turned and walked out of the doorway, right by where I was standing.

I looked over to Klaus as he continued carving, his actions fast and determined, making me fear he was going to lose himself a finger. Thankfully he didn't, and soon he was finished, standing back looking at the wall with a proud smile on his face. I could see the love for all his siblings on his face as he stared at the names for a moment longer before he pocketed his blade, grabbed his torch and left the cave.

'KIM!' Damon shouted, making me jump about a foot, moving my hand from the wall.

I looked over to him a frown firmly on my face, 'what?' I asked annoyed.

'What do you mean what? We've been shouting you for a good five minutes!' Damon said, his arms flailing around as he shouted at me. I rolled my eyes at him but my gaze softened when I met Elena's worried brown orbs.

'Sorry I was having a vision.' I admitted, knowing there would be no other reasonable explanation for it.

'A what?' Damon asked, genuinely shocked.

'A vision, I saw Rebekah and Klaus, carving the names into the wall. It must have been a long time ago; their clothes were really outdated.' I said, confused myself.

'Since when do you have visions?' Damon asked, clearly not ready to let this go.

'Since I'm half Prophet and half Empath.' I told him honestly, figuring he deserved to know, 'keep it to yourself though, yeah? The fewer people that know the better.'

Damon stared at me for a moment, clearly trying to process my words before his face lit up in realization, 'that's why I wasn't in any pain yesterday morning wasn't it?'

'Yup. I took it, just so you know it hurt like a bitch.' I mumbled, my gaze going back to the wall, not wanting to see his expression when he started to rant about how he could have handled it.

'Why did you do it?' Damon asked, surprising me, I looked over to him and saw and felt the genuine wonder on his face.

'Because I could. Why should you have to feel the pain when there's something I can do about it?' I said with a shrug as if it was that simple. Damon was looking at me as if he was seeing me in a whole new light, admiration shining in his eyes before his mask was back up again.

'Thank you.' He mumbled, so low that I almost didn't hear him.

'Did the big bad Damon Salvatore just thank me?' I asked, pretending to be shocked for a moment, winking at Ric and Elena when they laughed, before I turned back to Damon with a genuine smile and replied, 'no worries.'

'Anyway… I thought you said you only had visions of the future?' Elena said, trying to bring the conversation back to the carvings.

'So did I. But the witch who told me what I was said that my gifts would interlink; maybe the emotions made an impression on the carvings and that triggered a vision?' I suggested, not really understanding myself.

'Do you think you could do it again?' Ric asked, looking over to me with curiosity shining in his eyes.

'I don't know; I think I got a vision from Klaus' name because I was drawn to it. Maybe I could see if I'm drawn to any others?' I suggested.

'Give it your best shot. You seeing what happened would be a lot quicker.' Damon muttered from the doorway.

'Don't be so impatient.' I said as I walked along the length of the room, three consecutive images standing out to me. The first was an image that looked almost like Elena's necklace with a body, the heart being the only part that was filled in, followed by a sun with fangs with a circle underneath, the last image was the first image again but upside down. I could feel the anger and pain coming from them and I knew that this wasn't going to end well.

I turned to everyone before I touched the wall, 'I have a bad feeling about this. Don't freak out if it takes me a while to come around, all right? I don't know how long this is going to take.' They all nodded and I turned back to the wall, taking a deep breath, my hand hovering over the wall for a moment before I pressed my hand against the cool stone. This time was much quicker; my vision faded almost immediately and I images soon filled my brain, transporting me somewhere else.

I was standing in what looked like a small village; the leaves were on the ground and the wind blew them all around, making me think it was autumn. I looked in front of me and saw Klaus talking to an older woman, who shared some resemblance to Rebekah, making me think that this was their mother. I saw that Klaus looked broken, destroyed whereas the older woman looked angry and ashamed.

'Mother, please.' Klaus said, his voice was pleading, enough so that I actually walked forward to stand only a step away from being directly in between them.

'I could never love you, Niklaus.' His Mother said her tone completely void of emotion. Klaus' expression was heartbreaking; the light in his eyes dimmed as tears pooled in his eyes, spilling over. I could feel tears falling down my own cheeks, but I refused to acknowledge them.

'I am your child.' Klaus said, his tone and expression desperate, it made me want to hug him tightly and take away the pain his own mother was causing.

'Niklaus, you are nothing but a reminder of my greatest shame. I will never love you, my child or not. You are nothing but an abomination.' She said, her voice dripping with venom and disdain.

I saw Klaus' expression drop in complete sadness before his whole face hardened in anger. So quickly that I may have missed it if I had blinked, he reached forward and ripped her heart from her chest. His Mother fell to her knees, her hands covering the gaping hole in her chest as she attempted to gasp for air with no success. The life faded from her eyes and she fell to her side, dead. I looked up to Klaus who was still holding her heart in his hand, the anger now gone and replaced with shock, shame and regret. He dropped the organ from his hand, looking to the crimson substance flowing between his fingers, his tears once again falling down his cheeks as he realized what he had done. Abruptly falling to the floor, he grasped his Mother's corpse as he apologized over and over again, clearly remorseful despite the horrid things she had said to him; things a mother should never say to her child. I fell to my knees beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder, wanting to offer him comfort, but knowing that it wouldn't be possible. As my hand dropped to my side I accidentally came into contact with his Mother's body and suddenly I felt an unbearable pain in my chest, where my heart was. I got to my feet as my hands went to my abdomen, pulling them back to see my hand covered in blood; I fell backwards onto the forest floor.

I was suddenly pulled back to the present. I sat up, looking around me realizing that I was still in the cave, though it felt like it had been a long time since I was here.

'Kim? Are you all right?' Ric asked, placing a hand on my shoulder as he kneeled beside me. That was when I registered that I was on the floor; most likely I fell when I had in the vision. I stood up using the hand that Ric offered, and as I did I felt the pain in my chest again, not thinking I put my hand under my shirt, placing it over where my heart was. When I pulled it back, my hands were stained crimson. I looked to Ric in horror as I gasped, trying to breathe.

'Ric, get her over to me!' Damon shouted from the cave's doorway, his voice desperate. Ric complied and helped me over to the doorway, supporting most of my weight, he passed me into Damon's waiting arms and Damon wasted no time in biting into his wrist and offering me his blood. I drank until I could breathe again and rested my head against his chest as I tried to gather myself. Once I had, I pulled back, leaning against the nearest wall.

'What the hell happened?' Damon asked, looking genuinely concerned.

'Klaus ripped out someone's heart and I accidently touched that person and the next thing I know I'm the one who feels like my heart is being ripped from my chest.' I muttered, seriously freaked out.

'Okay, so next time you have a vision keep your hands to yourself.' Damon's tone is sarcastic as he tried to lighten the mood, but I could feel that he was still worried. I sent him a comforting wave without thinking about it.

'Stop that! You nearly died don't waste your energy on trying to calm me down!' Damon shouted, exasperated.

'Calm down, Damon. I'm fine, seriously.' I looked around, glad that Ric was convinced I was fine, but I noticed someone missing, 'where's Elena?'

'You were in there for a few hours. She went to Rebekah to see if she could get some pieces of the puzzle.' Ric answered.

I nodded as I went to walk back into the cave about to seek out any more drawings that stood out to me, when Damon caught my arm.

'What do you think you're doing?' He demanded.

I looked at him as if the answer was obvious, which it was, 'I'm going to see if I can get anything else. There's a name that's standing out to me. But it's one of the ones that hasn't been translated yet.'

'I don't care, you nearly died. You aren't going back in there, end of discussion.'

'Damon, I appreciate my concern but you aren't my handler. I make my own decisions and you know the only reason you care is because you're worried that Elena will hate you if I die on your watch.' I said, raising my eyebrow challengingly.

'Look, I don't say this to many people but I consider you a…' He paused as if what he was about to say was physically difficult for him, 'friend. And I can't let my friend walk into danger.'

'I'll be fine, if not I have some vampire blood handy.' I patted his arm in reassurance, 'I promise you I'll be fine, as long as I don't touch anything I'll remain an observer instead of having any kind of physical contact.'

Damon looked at me for a long moment before he reluctantly nodded and released my arm, letting me walk into the cave. I ignored Ric's surprise at Damon's actions and words and walked up to the name that was calling to me, preparing myself for what I was about to see.

I was standing in the same place that I had been in my previous vision, just a little deeper into the woods, further from the house. I could hear the clanking of metal and I looked to my right and saw Klaus and Elijah engaged in a sword match, which made me smile. I walked further forward; coming to a rest against one of the stumps that made up the circle they were dueling in. Rebekah ran over with a younger boy who was blonde, I heard her call him Henrik before they both stood at the opposite end of where I was, both of them watching Klaus and Elijah with amusement.

'Ah look, our sister has arrived to witness my fast approaching victory.' Elijah exclaimed, a genuine smile on his face.

'On the contrary, brother,' Klaus said as he swiftly knocked Elijah off balance and brought his sword down to slice off his belt, 'she's come to laugh at you!' Klaus finished as he joined in with his sibling's laughter; even Elijah had a reluctant smile on his face. I couldn't stop my own smile from forming as I witnessed them together so happy, carefree and normal. That was broken as soon as two adults approached; their Mother was hastily walking as she tried to keep up with an older man. He was tall, with dark hair, but he made me flinch away from him due to the intimidation and coldness that exuded from him.

'Relax, Mikael. Niklaus meant well.' The Mother said with a panicked expression on her face, afraid of what he was going to do.

'That, Ester, is precisely my problem,' Mikael answered back, walking over to Elijah and roughly taking his sword from him as he turned to face Klaus.

I looked over to Klaus and I could see the fear and dread in his expression; he looked like he was terrified as to what he was going to do and my heart hurt for him.

'So why don't you teach me that trick, young warrior?' Mikael said, his voice dripping disdainfully as he moved his sword forward to connect with Klaus'. Klaus and Mikael fought for a few moments, the fun carefree atmosphere that was present a few moments before was now gone and destroyed; everyone who watched was scared for Klaus, including me. Klaus moved to the side, avoiding Mikael's sword as he attempted to strike him.

'Father, please. We were just having fun.' Klaus tried to explain, but Mikael didn't hasten in his swing as his sword continued to move against Klaus'.

'We fight for our survival! And you find time for fun? I want to have fun! Teach me! Come on!' Mikael shouted, his voice echoing throughout the woods, his tone making the hairs on my neck stand up in dread. Mikael disarmed Klaus effortlessly and pushed him to the floor, holding the blade to his throat; I instinctively took a step forward, as did Rebekah and Elijah.

'You are foolish and impulsive, my boy. What? No more laughter?' Mikael sneered in his face, applying little pressure to the blade, making a thin line of blood appear in its wake.

'You have made your point, Mikael. Enough.' Ester said, her voice stern. Surprisingly, Mikael listened and stood, throwing the sword to the ground, the blade imbedding in the earth only an inch away from Klaus' head, 'some days it's a miracle you're still alive, boy!' Mikael mocked as he walked away in the direction he had come, Ester following behind him with no hesitation. I shook my head, disgusted with them both before I looked over to the siblings that had congregated around Klaus. Their affection and care for each other was obvious and it warmed my heart; even if their parents were the immoral monsters they seemed to be, at least they still had each other.

I gasped as I returned to the present, taking a step back from the wall as my mind processed what I had just seen. Everything that I had seen so far just made my heart hurt for the Original family, especially Klaus. All I could feel was overwhelming empathy for him; I felt his fear, anger, sadness, and happiness in those moments as if the emotions were my own. After seeing Mikael with my own two eyes and seeing how he had treated his own children I knew he was a monster and I didn't like the idea of him being the one to kill Klaus.

'Are you all right?' Damon asked, I turned and looked over to Damon, noticing that Ric was gone.

'Mikael is a bad idea.' I said, my voice unwavering.

'Yeah… about that,' Damon trailed off, his expression as well as his worry, convinced me that I was not going to like whatever he was about to say.

'What?' I demanded.

'Mikael is sort of already here…' He admitted, 'he cornered me and Stefan in a bar, threatened to rip my heart out unless we helped him to lure Klaus here.' Damon explained.

'What? How? How long was I in there for?' I demanded.

'Two hours. Ric stayed here while I was gone and he just took off when I got back. He told Elena about the whole Klaus ripping out someone's heart thing and she went to tell Rebekah. Apparently Klaus told her that Mikael did it.' Damon scoffed as if the idea of him doing that was cowardly, which pissed me off.

'Listen, you have no idea what I have just seen! Mikael and Ester are both pathetic excuses for parents. He ripped her heart out in a fit of rage when his own Mother said that he was her greatest shame and an abomination. Of course he lied to Rebekah; he probably thought that she would hate him and seeing as his own siblings were the only ones who actually cared for him, I can't even imagine how terrifying the thought of that must have been to him. And Mikael is a cold-hearted monster whose sole purpose seemed to be to make his own children fear him through emotional and physical torture. So yes, I can see why Klaus wouldn't want Mikael to come here and why he lied to his sister.' I shouted, my voice getting louder the angrier I got.

'Woah, okay calm down!' Damon said, looking genuinely afraid of me.

'I'm sorry, but I could feel everything that they felt. It makes it a little harder for me to side with the idea to bring in Mikael to kill Klaus. It's a bad idea Damon, he's a narcissistic bastard who cannot be trusted.' I said, my voice now much more calm.

'If I could take it back, I would but he's here now and he wants us to lead him to Klaus. It's either him or us, Kim.' Damon said, his voice soft.

I felt completely and utterly defeated, I didn't think Klaus deserved to die at all never mind in the hands of the man who tortured him for years as a child. He didn't deserve this, but then again neither did Stefan, Damon or Caroline. All of these people I felt my self caring about and yet, there was absolutely nothing I could do to help them. I couldn't kill Mikael; if he was Klaus' father that meant he was also an Original and therefore could only be killed with white oak. If I told Klaus what they were planning, he wouldn't come to Mystic Falls and Mikael would kill the vampire's here before he went to search for him himself.

'Come on. I'll take you home, you've been held up in here all day.' Damon said, his eyes concerned as he stared at me in a way that made me wonder how much of a mess I looked. I nodded and stepped out of the room, he hugged me, which surprised me for a moment before I returned it, grateful that he was offering me comfort despite the fact that I was worried for one of the people he considered an enemy. I pulled away after a moment, smiling to him in reassurance before I made my way to the exit and eventually to Damon's car. He filled me in on what had happened while I had been in there all day; him breaking Stefan out of purgatory, Mikael finding them, Elena telling Rebekah that Klaus had in fact killed their mother. I asked Damon to take me to the boarding house before he took me home, knowing that Rebekah would need a shoulder from someone she considered a friend.

As soon as the car was in park I jumped out of the car and let myself into the boarding house, finding Rebekah in the living room, sipping a glass of whiskey as tears poured down her face. I walked over to her without hesitation, pulling her to my chest, stroking her hair as she sobbed into my vest top. I kissed her hair every now and then, but otherwise just rocked her gently backwards and forwards, sending as much comfort towards her as I could. Eventually her breathing evened out as she cried herself to sleep, I didn't want to leave her where she was and I was grateful when Damon appeared in the doorway, I gestured for him to help me with her and with a roll of his eyes he complied. He picked her up bridal style, carried her upstairs and laid her down on the bed in the room I assumed she had been staying in. I took off my jacket and shoes as well as Rebekah's shoes and laid next to her, continuing with the comforting waves, not wanting her troubles to follow her to her dreams.

For the first time that day I allowed my instincts to explore what Klaus being lured back to Mystic Falls for Mikael would mean for his fate. I almost cried in relief when I felt no dread or worry that would suggest he was going to die; instead I felt completely calm. Klaus wasn't going to die and neither was anyone I cared about and I wasn't going to tell a soul.

Chapter fourteen done and dusted! I hope you didn't find this chapter boring, but I actually enjoyed expanding on what being a hybrid means for Kim's powers :) Let me know what you think!

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