Taylor's POV
Josh and I had taken Ric to the hospital.
"So how is he?" Josh asked as he gave me as kiss.
"He's unhappy about having to spend the night here." I explained. "So Bonnie and her mom are okay."
"So do we have any who is behind all of this?" He questioned.
"No, Meredith was our only suspect." I replied. "You know I didn't kiss Stefan to hurt you."
"That doesn't mean you had a right to do it." He pointed out as we walked out. "I'm going to need some time to think about where we go from here."
He then walked off and I walked out to my car. I got inside and found that someone was in my backseat.
"Hello, Taylor." Rebekah greeted me. I jumped out of the car and she pushed me against it. Why was she attacking me? I didn't want to dagger her. "I want you to tell me where your sister is so I drive a dagger through her back."
Before she could do anything else, Elijah stepped in
"Leave her alone." The older Original commanded her. Rebekah ran off and I was left with him. I hope this was a good thing. "Well, it seems that we have much to discuss."
In the morning, I had called the Salvatores over and had Anna in the kitchen.
"It was their mother in the coffin." I explained what Elijah had told me.
"You mean the Original witch?" Anna asked.
"How is she still alive?" Damon questioned. "Klaus killed her."
"She probably knew some other witches that helped her." I guessed. "Elijah said that she wants peace with her family, including Klaus."
"But she was supposed to be the weapon to help us kill Klaus." Stefan pointed out. Doesn't like that will happen.
"So we got used." Anna pointed out.
"Well Elijah promised me that his family wouldn't hurt any of us." I stated before the doorbell rang. I went to get the door and no one was there, just a note that was addressed to me.
"What is it?" Stefan asked.
"It's an invitation. Please join the Mikaelson family tonight at 7:00 for dancing, cocktails, and celebration." I read.
"Who are the Mikaelsons?" Stefan asked.
"It's Scandinavian naming." Anna interrupted. "Sons of Mikael."
"So now not only are they moving here, but they want a housewarming party." Damon quipped. We didn't need his banter. "Wait there's more. Taylor, I think it's time for us to finally meet, Esther. Ashley's POV
I woke up in my bed with Jeremy next to wearing no clothes. I looked him over before getting out. That was when I noticed he was awake.
"Morning." He greeted me.
"Morning." I reciprocated. "So I was wondering. If we're getting married, maybe we should look into getting our own place. We have the money and it'll be somewhere that Klaus can't come inside whenever he wants."
"Yeah, but then we would have to pay the bills ourselves." He pointed out.
"If Matt can do it, so can we." I replied. "We should probably put some clothes on. I was going to meet Taylor and Anna at the Grill today. Do you mind watching the baby for a little while?"
"You know I can't say no." He responded before he kissed me. "Let's just not have another one for a little while."
"Okay." I agreed.
Taylor's POV
"Maybe she knows why I am a werewolf." I opined. "Am I related to Klaus or something?"
"She tried to kill you once already." Damon replied. Okay, I had forgotten about that part.
"I'm with Taylor." Stefan agreed. "The witches wanted Bonnie to open the coffin for a reason. We need to find out why."
At that moment, the doorbell rang again.
"I'll get it." Anna replied.
Anna's POV
I went to the door and found a box with a note on it addressed to me. It was the same invitation. On the back was a different note, though.
"Save me a dance, Klaus." It read. Oh great. I opened the box and inside was a greyish dress that probably had some mauve mixed in. I don't think I knew the name of this color. It did look very nice though. I then went with Taylor to the Grill where we met Ashley.
"This party is crazy." I stated.
"Why would the Originals even throw a ball?" Ashley questioned. I think she was upset because she wasn't invited. She could still come and bring Jeremy.
"They're old-fashioned." I replied. "I can't believe that Klaus wants me to come. I didn't even know him that long."
"Well why does the bad witch want to talk to you?" Ashley asked, looking at Taylor. "And who are you going with? I know that you still like Stefan."
"I hate love triangles." Taylor remarked in anguish. I hoped that I wasn't about to enter one.
"Yes, love triangles are troublesome." Rebekah commented as she walked up to us.
"What are you doing here?" Taylor asked. "I'm not telling you where Elena is."
"I'm not here for you, Little Wolf." The Original declared. I don't think she likes being called that. "But I figure if your sister is not here, I'll steal her boyfriend."
She went over to Matt and presented him with an invite.
"Why is she asking him?" Ashley questioned.
"I think she wants to annoy us." I opined before Rebekah walked away.
Ashley's POV
After convincing my mom to look after Jenna, I got to go to the ball. I was wearing a sea green gown with a lace hem and gold pattern underneath the chest. It looked really nice.
"So how do you feel?" Jeremy asked me.
"I feel great." I told him. "So do you think I'm the hottest momma in this place?"
"Definitely." He said before he kissed me.
At that moment, Taylor came in through the door in a strapless white dress with a very large skirt and her hair was up. She looked gorgeous. She had Josh next to her who was wearing a tux.
Taylor's POV
"I feel silly." I commented to Josh.
"You look beautiful." Josh replied. I swooned. It was then that Stefan arrived.
"Hello, Taylor, Josh." He greeted us.
"So, I need to find out what Esther wants." I remarked.
Anna's POV
I looked through Taylor's closet to see if I could find something else to where, but I don't think any of it would look good on me. I sighed and put on the dress that Klaus had given me and put my hair up before I went to the ball. It's been awhile since I've been to one of these I'll admit. It came with a pair of black gloves and it was customary for women to wear them for some reason.
I noticed him shortly after I walked in. A few seconds later, he seemed to notice me.
"You look ravishing." He complimented.
"I need a drink." I declared as I walked away.
Taylor's POV
I went over by the refreshment table without either guy by my side.
"Taylor Gilbert, I presume." A man said to me. "I'm Finn Mikaelson. My mother wishes to speak to you."
"Is she here?" I questioned.
"I request you don't bring your friends." Finn declared.
"They just want to protect me." I stated.
"Well if you wish to speak to my mother, it'll have to be alone." Finn told me.
"If everyone could gather please." Elijah announced. Finn walked off and all of the Originals appeared on the stairs, including Esther who walked down. "Welcome, thank you for joining us. You know whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a centuries old waltz. So if all of you could find yourselves a partner. Please join us in the ballroom. At point, I noticed Esther was going upstairs. I headed for the staircase when Damon stood in my way.
"No, you're not going up there." He told me. This was bothersome.
"She wants to see me alone." I stated.
"Well it sucks to be her then." He replied. "You're not seeing her."
I huffed and walked away to find Josh so we could dance. I was going to see her. I just needed to figure out a way to get Damon off my back.
I went to the ballroom to see that Ashley was with Jeremy, and Anna was with Klaus, I guess because she couldn't find anyone else. I would have been okay with her dancing with Stefan.
Anna's POV
"I'm glad that you're here." Klaus told me as we danced.
"I had to look for my friends." I replied. "Excuse me for not trusting your family."
"I see that you're wearing the dress." He remarked.
"I didn't have time to find another one." I pointed out. I wish that he hadn't made me forget. That, combined with everything else, made it impossible for me to trust him.
"So how does this compare to New Orleans?" He asked me.
"You know Mikael found me and he blood-raped me after you left." I pointed out.
Taylor's POV
The dance involved a switching of partners and I found myself in Stefan's arms.
"At least I don't have to beg you." I responded.
"Mayor Lockwood made me." He declared. I wish I could have seen that.
Anna's POV
I ended up with Josh.
"Hey, it's just a dance." I told him. "She came with you because she chose you and you should be grateful."
Ashley's POV
I wound up with Klaus. I can't believe that I had such bad luck.
"So how's your daughter?" He asked me.
"She's fine." I responded. "Don't talk to me."
Taylor's POV
"I can tell Damon is upset." The vampire remarked as we danced.
"I need your help getting him to stop looking at me so I can see Esther." I whispered.
"What do you need me to do?" He asked.
"Just keep Damon occupied." I instructed.
I called Damon to one of the rooms upstairs. It was there that Stefan came in and broke his neck. You know I could have done that.
"Time for you to go." Stefan stated. I nodded and went to find Esther.
"Taylor." Elijah said to me in the hall. "I heard that my mother requested a meeting with you."
"Yes." I responded. "Is there something wrong?"
"I'm a bit confused as to why she's so willing to forgive my brother." He admitted.
"Do you think she's lying?" I questioned.
"Well I'm not completely trusting her." Elijah said. "I was wondering if I could speak to you after the meeting is over."
"Okay." I agreed as I resumed my quest to find his mother.
I found her in a room with Finn.
"I see you're alone." He noted.
"Just like you asked." I responded. She was holding something that was on fire.
"It's just sage." Esther stated. "It's a spell to prevent us to from being heard. You may leave now, Finn. You must have a million questions."
"Do you know why I am a werewolf?" I asked immediately.
"You were not meant to survive the sacrifice ritual." Esther told me. "As a side effect, Klaus's lycanthropy was also passed onto you. Now I will answer whatever you ask. Come take a seat."
I sat down on the couch.
"How can you be alive?" I questioned. "Klaus kind of ripped your heart out."
"When I died, the witch Ayanna preserved me with a spell. She was a close friend of mine and relative of your friend Bonnie." She explained.
"I guess that's why Bonnie and her mom had to break the spell." I deduced.
"I drew power from their bloodline and it is keeping me alive at this moment." She continued. "Nature punished me for transforming my family by sending me to the Other Side."
"No." I argued. "Every supernatural goes there when they die. Nature had nothing to do with it."
"Still there is a way for me to undo what I've done to them." She pointed out. "Since I cast the spell, I can reverse it."
"You want to kill Klaus, don't you?" I asked her
"It's not just Klaus." She responded. "For now, I need your blood."
Anna's POV
I went outside and saw a horse. Horses can usually sense vampires. Maybe this one was trained not to run.
"I see you've trained this one." I stated.
"I train all of my horse." Klaus replied. "When it comes down to it, they're more loyal than people."
"Why did you invite me?" I asked.
"I fancy you just I did a hundred years ago." He replied.
"Why didn't you ever try to find me then?" I responded.
"I wanted to make myself forget you." Klaus answered. "I didn't want Mikael to come after you and I'm sorry for what he did to you."
"You don't know how it feels to not be able to remember a whole year of your life." I told him. "Regardless of how little a year means to you, every year of my life means something to me. On top of that, I am spoken for."
"I assumed you ended things." He replied.
"Only because of your sire bond to him," I spat at him.
"That means that you aren't spoken for." He pointed out. "You know the closest Mikael came to killing me was when he killed my favorite horse."
"I'm going back inside." I announced as I walked in.
Taylor's POV
"After I turned my children into vampires, they began to kill the townspeople with no remorse. Eventually, Niklaus turned against me." Esther explained
"You turned against him first." I countered. I can't believe that I was defending Klaus. "Why do you need my blood?"
"My children believe that I am holding this ball to celebrate our reunion." She replied. "In truth, I have gathered them to perform a ritual. I need one drop of your blood to mix into the champagne which will link my children together."
"I don't want to kill them all." I pointed out. Before I could stop her, she pricked my hand with a silver dagger. It healed almost instantly.
"Now you will not tell any of my children of this before they drink." She told me. I think it was a mind control spell because I wanted to tell Elijah that his mom wanted to kill him, but I couldn't. "I love my family, but they are monsters."
"Then you don't love them." I argued. "Love means accepting someone for whatever they are."
Ashley's POV
Jeremy and I were currently with Matt and Josh while Taylor was upstairs talking to the evil witch. I hoped that she was okay.
"She's been up there a while." I remarked.
"Well we have to trust that Taylor knows what she's doing." Josh replied. "That what I want to do, especially since she can kick my ass."
"Matt, do you want to come outside with me?" Rebekah asked. I didn't trust her, and I don't think Matt did either, but he agreed to step outside with her.
Taylor's POV
I went downstairs and was found by Elijah.
"So how was my mother?" He asked.
"She was polite." I answered. I was unable to form the words I wanted to tell him.
"Why did she call you?" He asked as he grabbed some champagne. I wanted to knock it out of his hand.
"She wanted to apologize for attempting to kill me and setting the ghosts free." I lied since I couldn't say the truth.
"Then she has forgiven Klaus?" He asked.
"Yes…" I stated.
Esther then called for a toast and everyone drank of the liquor. I had to stop myself from gagging since my blood was in it. I knew vomiting wouldn't look good. I didn't even like champagne.
Anna's POV
Klaus took me up to one of the many rooms of the house.
"So why did you bring me up here?" He asked.
"I wanted to show you this." Klaus declared. I looked in front of me and there was a portrait of me. I remembered posing for it in New Orleans. "I've kept it for all these years and just recently got it out of storage. It's how I remembered you."
"So did you paint all of these?" I asked as I looked around the room.
"Also one of my landscapes is hanging at the Ermitage, not that anyone knows." He responded. "Have you been?"
"Russia is too cold for me." I explained.
"I could take you." He offered. "I could take you anywhere, even if you've already been."
"You can't just buy my affection." I pointed out. "That's not how it goes. The only reason I'm not with Tyler is because of you. You can release him."
"You know I've had fun, but I think you should leave." He replied.
"You know you opened up to me in the past. I might have loved you then, but I don't love you now." I responded. "You'd have to do a lot to change that."
I walked away from him angrily.
Taylor's POV
I walked around after people were starting to leave.
"Taylor, did you get what you want?" Damon asked me. I already felt pretty bad and I didn't need him to make me feel worse.
"No." I replied.
"Well we're leaving anyway." He stated.
"Let me go." I demanded. "I'm sorry that I had to do that to you, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I get why you're mad at me."
"I'm mad because you're my friend and I care about you." He stated.
"Maybe that's the problem." I told him.
Anna's POV
I tried to call Tyler, but I wasn't able to get through. Suddenly there was another knock on the door. I really wished that Klaus would just get it through his head that I was interested. I looked outside and there was the painting with a note attached thanking me for my honesty. My only question was where I was going to put this.
Taylor's POV
I had Stefan bring me home because I needed to talk to him.
"So Esther wants to kill her whole family." He noted. "I think that makes her the worst ever."
"I wanted to stop her. She made it so I couldn't." I pointed out.
"Why would you want to stop her?" He questioned.
"I don't want to kill them all, Stefan," I explained to him. "I had to lie to Elijah about it."
"They're collateral damage, Taylor." He argued. "As long as we kill Klaus, that's all that matters."
"That family is the exact reason that you're cursed." Stefan reminded me. "Whatever it takes to kill Klaus is what we'll do. So where's Josh?"
"He went home." I responded.
"Well good night." He told me. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, but not during the evening."
So unlike Caroline, Anna did love Klaus, but he made her forget and left her behind, which she is very mad about. Also Taylor refused to help Esther, but wsas forced to anyway. There may also be a surprise at the end of the season. Please don't forget to review.