Chapter 13
Klaus and Cassie had spent the next week together, not together in the sense of a normal relationship, but they were living together, in the teeny tiny apartment Cassie used when she was on base. They had cuddled and Klaus was always making sure that Cassie wasn't alone, whether being there after she was done with meeting Mason or Daniel or just staying with her while she was in the library. Cassie appreciated it but the fact that they weren't physically together wasn't something that Cassie necessarily missed. Which worried her even more, she was in love with him and the fact that they hadn't kissed or done anything stressed her even more. But that topic was something she that she was trying to push into the back of her mind.
Currently, she was sitting at the table in the library that she claimed for her own. Klaus was searching for some more books that they hadn't read yet when her phone started to ring.
"I'm a cowboy, on I steel horse I ride, I'm wanted. Wanted dead or alive."
"Hey Stefan" Cassie answered picking up her phone.
"Hey Cass" came his reply "I wouldn't have called but I need your help"
"Stef, its fine I think we are pretty much done here anyways, what's up?"
Stefan sighed "Damon took Elena to new york"
Cassie sucked in a breath, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, but she didn't say anything.
"But" Stefan continued Elena got the upper hand on him and she left"
Cassie released the breath she was holding "well, is Damon ok?" she asked.
"His ego isn't, but other than that, he is fine."
"Do we know where Elena is?"
"Not where but with whom"
"Ok, I'll bite, who is she with."
"Your blonde bestie" Cassie heard Damon's voice from the other end.
"Caroline?" she asked "and am I on speaker?"
"No and yes" Damon replied "and I'm touched to hear your concern about me"
Cassie rolled her eyes and ignored that comment. "I'll find out where she is and shoot you guys a text," she said.
"See you soon" Stefan said before hanging up.
Cassie sighed and scooted her seat back; she started searching through the rows looking for Klaus. She was kinda excited to get to leave here, her and Klaus just together, on the road looking for her sister of course but the thought of the two of them getting to drive and actually solve a problem. She hoped that this could rekindle the fire between the two of them.
"Nik" she called out.
Cassie turned the corner of the last row and saw Klaus hang up the phone.
"Hey" she said, "listen something has happened, and we need to go"
Klaus turned around and saw Cassie standing there; he put his phone in his pocket. "I was just about to say the same thing love," he said.
"Is there something wrong?" Cassie asked.
"Nothing, just a little problem that I need to handle" Klaus said. "What was your problem?"
"Elena took off," Cassie said offering him a small smile "figured we could go on a road trip and knock her down a few pegs"
Klaus just nodded.
"But your not coming with me" Cassie said a little deflated "your leaving on your own"
Klaus nodded his head, not saying anything. "Yes, something has come to my attention and I need to go back to mystic falls, this can't be solved by anyone else"
Cassie bit her lip, the thought of him leaving her made her sad, and she knew that no matter what had happened between them she loved him, and as soon as this is over she was going to fix whatever was wrong with them.
"Cassandra love" Klaus said "is something wrong?"
Cassie looked up at him, her eyes meeting those sea green orbs she was so helplessly in love him, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. It was a chaste kiss, full of love; she opened her eyes and lowered her back to the ground. "I'm gonna miss you" she whispered.
Klaus's eyes burned with love as he grabbed her and pulled her close to him. He returned the kiss deeply. He broke the kiss and saw her smiling, her eyes still closed.
He didn't say anything else, but he left her there.
Cassie opened up her eyes to see him gone. She blinked back the tears and she pulled out her phone.
"I wondered how long it was going to be before I got a call from you" Rebecca's voice came from the other end.
"Where are you?" Cassie asked, trying to bring forth her training and calm herself back down.
"Some small town Willoughby, Pennsylvania" Rebecca said "am I guessing we will see you soon."
"Yes, I'll be there by the end of the day" Cassie said.
"Good, and you can tell me why you are about to cry when we get there," Rebecca said.
Cassie smiled and hung up the phone.
She sent a quick text to Stefan letting both him and Damon know where Elena and Rebecca were and she was going to meet them there. She started to put all of the books back and she picked up her notes. She ignored the pain of Klaus not saying goodbye and just leaving her there, to pick up the mess they left.
Cassie was driving to where Rebecca and Elena were, actually she was speeding. After she packed and was ready to go she said her goodbyes and set up a plan for the summer training session she owed them, Cassie called Rebecca again making sure that they hadn't moved when Rebecca told her that Katherine was there. This was a win, win for Cassie and she wasn't going to let this opportunity pass. And she knew exactly how she was going to do it.
She finally pulled up to the dinner where Rebecca texted where they were. Cassie had known everything about what was happening that day. Including the compelling that Katherine had the entire town under.
Cassie snuck into the back of the restaurant; she saw Katherine, Elena and Rebecca sitting on the booth and smiled seeing what Katherine was drinking. Tea, sweetened as usual. Cassie snuck over to the tea urn marked sweet and pulled out a vial, game she thought to herself. She dumped it into the tea and then snuck back out of the restaurant before they could see her.
"Excuse me" Cassie said walking up to some woman. She turned to face Cassie and she pulled out her phone with a picture of Katherine on it. "Do you know this woman?"
"That's Katherine Pierce," she answered.
Cassie smiled, "she was expecting a package that I need to pick up from her, do you know where it is?"
The woman smiled "I do, it's at my house."
"Brilliant" Cassie said and she moved her phone away from the woman's eyesight.
The woman blinked and looked back up at Cassie. "Do I know you?" she asked.
"No" Cassie said before turning around and walking away from the woman. She had a plan to see out.
Katherine was sitting in the dinner, her doppelganger and the blonde original trying to get information out of her but failing. It wasn't amusing for Katherine anymore, it was annoying.
"Listen, has much fun as this has been I've really got to go" Katherine said sneering at them.
Rebecca stabbed a fork into Katherine's hand "sorry sweetie" she told Katherine giving her a sickly sweet smile "I've been told to keep you here"
Katherine raised an eyebrow while Elena turned to look at her. "Never knew you were one to take orders," she said.
"Well when this order comes from a friend of mine that is seeking revenge on you, how could I not?" Rebecca asked.
Katherine paled and Elena started laughing. "At least its Katherine facing Cassie's anger and not me." Elena said.
Katherine felt panic rising up in her throat, Cassie was here and Katherine had been apart of her revenge plans long enough to know that she was never one to back down and she always, always got her revenge.
The waitress came back over to the table and asked is they wanted any food or some refills. They all got refills, Katherine ordering a sweet tea as she usually did. And they waited for Cassie and her revenge to fall down on Katherine.
However, as a vampire with her humanity off, patience wasn't something that interested Elena and she soon started going through Katherine's phone looking for anything that could be interesting or fun. Something to keep her entertained.
And that's when she found it.
"Who's EM?" Elena asked looking at Katherine, a smile on her face as a plan formed in her mind.
"Someone who is way above your league" Katherine quipped.
Cassie followed the woman who said that the package Katherine had wanted home. She snuck into the house using the window by the back door. She heard the woman start a shower upstairs and started to search for whatever Katherine had this woman hide.
The kitchen proved fruitless and the front room seemed that way until Cassie saw the bookcase; she smiled as she pulled out Pride and Prejudice "set" Cassie whispered to her self as she put her treasure into her pocket and snuck out of the house.
Stefan and Damon found the diner Cassie had mentioned, Elena was gone but Rebecca and Katherine were still sitting in the booth. "Well look what we have here," Damon said sliding next to Rebecca as Stefan took the seat next to Katherine.
The two girls looked at the boys.
"Please don't let us interrupt" Stefan said holding his hands out for the girls to continue.
Rebecca rolled her eyes and Katherine just took another sip of her tea.
Cassie walked into the dinner; she noticed that Stefan and Damon were there and that Elena was no longer present. She smirked and strutted over to them.
"Another tea?" she asked as she approached the table.
Katherine turned to face what she thought was the waitress. "No" she began but then caught off and paled seeing Cassie there. Damon smirked at seeing Cassie standing there, victory in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
Cassie pulled up a chair and sat at the head of the table.
"Lets not drag this any further than it needs to be" Katherine said, still looking a little pale "kill me and lets get this over with."
Cassie's smile never left her lips "oh Rin," she said, "its already done" Cassie heard Katherine suck in a breath and Damon start to laugh.
"How?" Katherine asked.
Cassie's eyes trailed to the tea as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the empty vial. "A little mixture of werewolf venom and vervain, dumped into the entire tea urn in the back making every little sip of that tea deadly." She explained setting the vial down on the table.
Katherine nodded "would have thought you would have swung the sword itself and not let a poison do it."
Cassie laughed, "I am a firm believer in those who give the sentence swings the sword, Rin you know that. This isn't meant to kill you. It's slowly entering your bloodstream making the combination deadly. The next few hours are going to be terrible for you" she finished, ignoring the looks that the three of them are sending her.
Katherine nodded her head, "you forget one thing, I have the one thing that could save your sister" she said "the cure"
Cassie stopped "is this your play?" she asked.
"It is" she said turning to face Cassie "let me live and I'll give it to you"
Cassie thought for a second, her eyes never leaving Katherine face. She reached into her pocket and pulled what looked out like a small flip phone case. She picked another vial out and handed it to her. "Here is Klaus's blood." She said handing it to Katherine.
Katherine pulled the top off and went to drink it.
"Or" Cassie said stopping Katherine "is it the cure?"
Everyone stopped and Katherine turned to look at Cassie.
"You wouldn't" Katherine said.
"Like you wouldn't kill my family?" Cassie asked, "Like you wouldn't become the one thing that you promised yourself you would never become?"
Katherine put the lid back on the vial "where did you find it?" she asked.
"In a fish tank full of vervain" Cassie said. "In your quaint little home"
Katherine played with the vial, "if I take this I won't be poisoned anymore, and you would never kill a human."
Cassie tilted her head "true that could happen, however that vial could be the vial I found at your friends house" she said.
Katherine slid the vial back over to Cassie who smiled and put it back into the holder.
"You know when you compel an entire town to only remember your face, make sure I cant trigger it with a simple picture" Cassie said.
Katherine remained quiet and didn't say anything.
"I believe that is match, now, that this problem has been taken care of, anyone care to tell me what happened to my sister?" Cassie asked
"Katherine had a meeting with someone named EM, Elena went in her place" Rebecca said.
Cassie squinted her eyes and turned to face Katherine "what is Elijah doing meeting with you?" she asked.
"Elijah?" Rebecca asked.
Katherine didn't say anything; she just looked into Cassie's eyes.
"Fuck" Cassie said sighing as she stood up.
"Need someone to come with?" Damon asked.
"No" Cassie said, "Just watch her and make sure she doesn't betray anyone else."
Elijah watched as the young woman he had once admired for her compassion and humanity try and manipulate him. His heart hurt knowing that this was the other end of the grieving spectrum that her sister was on. At least that is what Elijah had heard was how Cassie was taking the hardship. Besides that one night to convince his brother to go comfort Cassandra, he had been steadily avoiding her and Mystic Falls in general.
He was leaning against a wall in an alleyway not saying anything as Elena tried to get Elijah on her side.
That was until he heard a snap. His head snapped up as he saw Cassandra standing there with her sister dead at her feet.
"Hello Elijah" Cassie said.
Elijah nodded his head "Cassandra."
Cassie texted Stefan to come pick up Elena's body and take her back to Mystic Falls.
Once Elena was clear and Damon and Rebecca were still with Katherine away from the dinner and at the house she was living in, she turned to Elijah. "What are you doing here Elijah?" she asked.
"Trying to make a deal with Katherine about the cure" Elijah said.
"Anything else" Cassie asked tilting her head to the side.
"What are you trying to imply?" Elijah asked.
"Are you guys together?" she asked.
Elijah sighed, "What kind of person would I be if I didn't believe that she couldn't change back into the woman I first met?"
"You wouldn't be you," she agreed. "But do you know what she did?"
"Elena had said something about it before you snapped her neck" he said allowing judgment leak into his voice.
"Elena has no emotions and wouldn't stop before she did something that was stupid enough to warrant you killing her"
"So you explain it to me then"
"When you recruited Katherine to help get the cure and my family to safety, Katherine saw an opportunity to grab the cure and bargain with Nik about her freedom. Problem was something stood in her way. Unfortunately the thing that stood in her way was my brother."
"Are you saying that Katherine killed your brother?"
"I'm saying that Katherine fed my brother to Silas so she could steal the cure from him and run."
Elijah paused as he assessed Cassie, the hopelessness betrayed in her eyes. It was something that Elijah was familiar with, the pain of a sibling betraying you. "Cassandra, I wasn't aware"
Cassie just nodded and sat on the floor, her back to the wall. "You would have been had you not bolted after the island"
"I didn't know how you would take me being there," he confessed.
"Just about as well as I took everyone else being there"
"Niklaus told me of how hard it was for you."
"Tell me Elijah when has it ever been easy to lose a sibling you were in charge of."
Elijah didn't respond, couldn't respond really. There wasn't anything that needed to be said. "So are you going to take revenge on her?" he finally asked.
"Wouldn't you?" Cassie countered as she looked up at Elijah.
Elijah held out his hand and Cassie took it as she stood up "I know she is here Elijah," Cassie said "and I've already started on my revenge that will end up in her death."
Elijah stopped and looked at her, with her hand still in his he looked at her "is there nothing that I could do to save her?" he asked.
"Is there anything that can be done to save my brother?" Cassie countered.
Elijah closed his eyes. "I know you are hurting" he began.
"I'm not hurting Elijah, I'm broken" Cassie said over him "the night my sister turned off her humanity and burned the house down I was prepared to burn with him"
Elijah heads snapped up "I wasn't aware" he said.
"Because Nik wasn't there, so he couldn't relay that information" Cassie said "I was grieving the loss of pretty much both of my siblings and he wasn't there, the man I loved and needed wasn't there through any of it, because I told him to stay away."
Elijah pulled her into a hug and she realized at that point that she was crying, crying over the life that she used to have, the life that she had built. With Klaus and the entire Mikaelson family, with Stefan and Damon, the entire misfit gang of Mystic Falls really.
Cassie stopped and pulled back from Elijah.
"I'm going to take her down Elijah" she said sniffing "and I don't care what I have to do to accomplish it."
"You realize that you will lose a piece of yourself when you do it." Elijah said.
She nodded "I've planned for that, and I'm going to do it, I have nothing left."
Elijah rubbed his face "I believe you are wrong" he said, "I believe that you have so much."
"Elijah, you and I both know that no matter how much I love Nik nor how much he loves me matters anymore. I'm not that same person and it's tearing us apart. Between losing my father and coming back from the dead to every single death since, its chipped away at me and honestly if I had the choice I would have shut off my humanity too" she said as she pulled her hand back from Elijah's.
"Is Niklaus aware off this?" Elijah asked her.
"Nik and I are dancing around it" Cassie confessed biting her lip "this is something we both aren't ready to let go of."
"I'm sorry for your loss, truly Cassandra, I can only hope that you find yourself again." He said as Cassie turned around and left, not wanting to continue the conversation, it was inevitable and no matter how many times she flipped flopped between wanting him and knowing that the ship has sailed on it. She knew the both of them needed to sit down and have a conversation and decide where to go from there, and now that Katherine was going to die soon, that conversation loomed closer and closer.
Cassie walked up into the house that Katherine was living in.
"You know it is quiet home-y," she said looking around. Rebecca, Katherine, and Damon all turned around to look at her.
"Well a home is something I've yearned for, for a while now" Katherine retorted, she was pale and sweaty and very much in pain.
"Home isn't a house dressed up" Cassie said, "home is wherever your family is."
"I haven't had family in a long time" Katherine said
"You had me" she said her voice just a whisper.
Rebecca and Damon looked at each other, suddenly feeling like they were interrupting a moment between the two, a moment that needed to happen.
"And now I don't" Katherine said.
"And its your own fault" Cassie said, "There is no one else to blame."
"I had to do it" Katherine said, "I needed to barter my freedom."
"How stupid are you?" Cassie asked "you HAD your freedom Rin, Nik wasn't going to harm you because you were my sister, and I don't care that you felt the need to take the cure, I'm furious that you decided to take my brother down to do it."
Katherine didn't say anything, she just hung her head.
"Elijah is by the gazebo," Cassie said. Katherine raised her head to face Cassie. "Go, say your goodbyes, something that I didn't get the chance to."
"What if I run?" Katherine asked, testing her boundaries.
"Then you die" Cassie said shrugging her shoulders "do you honestly think that Nik will give you his blood?"
Katherine opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it and ran off.
"I'm going to go" Rebecca said. "After that backstabbing bitch talks to Elijah, I need to"
Cassie didn't say anything, she just nodded her head.
Damon turned to face Cassie, "its good to see you" he said.
Cassie looked into his eyes "why did you take Elena to New York Damon?" she asked.
"Because that's where I was when I had my humanity off," Damon said, not hesitating in his reasons. "I wanted to show Elena and maybe convince her to turn it back on before she had done things to regret like I did"
Cassie nodded her head and opened her mouth, and then stopped she bit her lip and tried again. "If I kill her, will you still think of me the same," she asked Damon.
"I will" Damon said "but I honestly don't think you will think of yourself the same way."
Cassie walked back to where she knew Katherine and Elijah were talking, when she overheard them talking.
"You took everything from her" Elijah said "the only person who still considered family after everything and you betrayed her"
"I know" Katherine said "I know and I wish that I would have thought about who it was I was using as the sacrificial lamb but I didn't and now that is a decision I must live with, however longer Cassie deems it fit till she kills me."
"And you're just going to let her?" Elijah asked "you have ran from my brother for 500 years and yet your letting Cassie kill you?"
"I'm not letting Cassie do anything, she beat me, she was always capable of beating me, she is one of the smartest people I have ever met. And the only thing that can save me at this point is her boyfriends blood which isn't going to happen." Katherine said.
"So you're giving up?" Elijah asked.
"I'm not looking at it as giving up" Katherine defended herself before she started coughing; she bent over at the waist coughing blood into her hand.
"Then what pray tell are you looking at is as? Because all I can see is that you put you over your family, you were selfish and caused someone close to you to be hurt because of it, then lied to me because of it." Elijah said.
"I'm looking at it as allowing Cassie to avenge her brother, to somehow make sense of the terrible deed I have done and I lied to you because I knew she would be coming for me, I didn't know she would be so good at her revenge, I'll admit but she needs this and I deserve this." Katherine said.
Elijah stopped, hearing the words she was saying, Katherine finally understood the consequences of her actions and was ready to accept them, she had lied, betrayed and deceived but now this girl was facing her fears, Katherine was facing death. "Goodbye Katarina" Elijah said kissing her forehead and then blurring away, allowing whatever vengeance Cassie had planned Katherine to play out.
"Do you mean it" Cassie said behind her, Katherine spun around and then put her hand on the lamp post as she became dizzy.
"Yes" she said, "I did and I'm ready to face whatever you have planned for me"
Cassie walked over to where Katherine was and she towered over her. "You took so much away from me," she said, the tears forming in her eyes.
"I know," she gasped out, the poison in her body mixed with the vervain taking its toll on her. "I know"
Cassie pulled out a stake that she had in the waistband of her jeans and raised it above her head. And then she stopped, here was Katherine someone who Cassie had gone to bat for countless times and was someone Cassie thought she would defend till her last breath. But no longer, she couldn't let Katherine to leave this Scott free. Cassie closed her eyes, yes Katherine had killed her brother, had cause her and Elena so much grief that Elena turned off her humanity switch.
She looked up and saw that Elijah was still walking away, he hadn't turned around, he could still hear them, and she knew she could. But still he walked away, he left Katherine. Left Cassie to extract her revenge.
Cassie lowered her stake and put it back into her jeans, Katherine looked up at her in a confused stare.
Cassie pulled out the little box that held all of the vials, "here" she sneered tossing the vial to Katherine "its Nik's blood"
Katherine downed it; remaining crouched she looked back to Cassie "why?" she asked.
"Because at one point in time I considered you my sister, and I cant bring myself to betray that bond." Cassie said "but I want you to understand what your choices have led too."
Katherine nodded and remained quiet.
"If I see you again I will kill you, if anyone from headquarters or the organization see you, they will kill you. You will not have any protection, any safe haven from anyone of your old contacts. You are alone Katherine, and judging from the goodbye Elijah just gave you he is done with you as well." Cassie said.
Katherine looked like she would have wished Cassie could have just killed her instead.
"Leave" she sneered "and I don't ever want to see you again"
Katherine blurred away, Cassie's hair getting blown back as she flew past them.
She opened her eyes and saw Elijah standing there at the end of the block, staring at her, she sighed and she walked over to where her was.
She pulled out her little book and handed Elijah the vial. "Here" she whispered. "It's the cure, give it to whomever you want but first, promise me something?"
"Anything" Elijah promised.
"If you decide to give it to Rebecca, send her to me before you do" Cassie said.
Elijah nodded and he put the vial into his jacket pocket. "Why the change of heart? May I ask" Elijah asked her.
Cassie sighed looking up at him "we once shared that rare bond a sibling could have and though it is gone, I couldn't break the bond that we once had" she said as she walked away.
Rebecca blurred over to where Cassie was, "did you give Elijah the cure?" she asked.
"I did" Cassie said stopping and looking at Rebecca "are you sure you want this Rebecca? Being a human sucks, its messy and complicated and sad, its heart wrenching, crimpling sad, being human is helpless and hopeless and you are forced to watch your loved ones get sick and die in front of your eyes, as you stand there, unable to do anything. Being a human means you have to fight tooth and nail for everything and then continue to fight to keep it."
Rebecca looked at Cassie, she noticed how sad she was, how much Cassie was trying to hold it together for herself and for everyone else.
"Being a human means that you have to go on, when everything seems dark and lost." she finished and then walked away before Rebecca could finish.
"Humans are strange creatures," Elijah said walking over to Rebecca who stood there as Cassie left "breakable and fragile, yet resilient and strong at the same time. And that Rebecca is the look of a human who believes that she has lost everything"
AN: Disclaimer, i do not own the vampire diaries, and there is another chapter, sorry for the delay, life hit me and my grandmother died, plus with the season finale to try and get over... lets just say writing wasn't going to happen for a few days.
a plus however, we did reach eight reviews for last chapter which means... Sneak peak!
"nik we need to talk" Cassie said storming through the mansion "we have needed this conversation for a long tim and seeing you last night do that to your family just showed how much we need to talk"
"cassandra, please" klaus said as he walked out form his art room "not now, i have something to attend to."
"attend too?" she asked "unless Silas is in there Niklaus you better rethink your attitude towards this, we can't dance around this subject any longer"
what do you think? trouble in paradise? even more trouble i should say, what do you guys think of this sneak peak and the chapter? where do you think the sneak peek takes place? let me know in that pretty little review box below, eight more reviews and you guys get a sneak peek on my upcoming supernatural story =)