Doppleganger vs Doppleganger - Edited by the lovely Sophie :)
Last time...
Klaus recalls what he has learned from Manning and V while in the hotel room an hour ago and is conflicted on the best course of action to save Caroline. In a flashback, it is revealed that Caroline's death is now imminent because her name appeared on Manning while learning about Caroline and some of V's true nature. The group quickly finds turning Caroline into an Original is no longer enough to save her. They must find a way to destroy all the white oak in existence to ensure Caroline's survival. As a solution, Klaus joins forces with V and Manning to kill Katherine so she can become the new Executioner of the Other side. In that role, Manning plans to entice Katherine with immortality and invincibility so she will help find and destroy all the white oak that can kill Caroline. Back in the present, Klaus decides to let Caroline go to be with her dying mother and the two share goodbyes, with Klaus leaving her with one of his necklaces as a parting gift.
A/N Well. Now the foundation is set. The plot will escalate from here. Thanks for sticking with me!
Before I go to my thank yous, I wouldn't be me if I didn't address the anon reviewer who had some choice words for me. He/she said some things that I flat out didn't agree with. He/she then cried that an ooc Klaus has appeared in my fic, saying there is no way in hell Klaus would put Hayley and baby first with Caroline about to die any day.
I agree.
Klaus did say when he found out Hayley was pregnant to "kill her and the baby" (TVD S4 episode 20 I believe). Therefore, if it came down to Hayley and the baby vs. Caroline's life, I totally can see him picking his wifey. Klaus doesn't see the baby as his potential source of happiness, but a weakness. He sees Caroline as a weakness as well, but is drawn to, impressed by, and in love with her, which is why he can't let her go and keeps trying to be her last love.
So now you might be thinking, what is she saying? Klaus already said goodbye to Caroline and is on a plane back to NOLA...Right?
Um...No comment :).
Thanks to those who have started:
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Guest review responses at the end! Especially read the response for Guest #4 as it contains an important hint to the plot.
Doppelganger - is a look-alike or double of a living person, sometimes portrayed as a paranormal phenomenon, and in some traditions as a harbinger of bad luck. In other traditions and stories, they recognize your 'double-goer' as an evil twin [or a in Egyptian mythology] a tangible "spirit double" having the same memories and feelings as the person to whom the counterpart belongs - Wikipedia
Katerina POV - New Orleans, Louisiana
"Okay boys," I say, taking a deep breath before opening the door to the red-haired witch's hideout. "It's showtime."
Damon grabs my wrist and I go vampiric, already feeling yet another "I don't trust you tirade" coming on from Damon for the 5th time during the 24 hours we've been together.
"Let. Go," I warn him dangerously. I'm not in the mood for him when I'm so close to seeing Nadia again and having this mission to save Elena done with.
"How do we know this isn't a classic Katherine's special surprise with a side of screw you?" growls Damon with a harsh glare.
Yep. Like I thought.
"I told you I know where Elena is because it's my body and I plan to go back into it. What is so hard to believe Damon?"
"It's too clean. Too easy," chimes in Stefan behind me.
I whirl at him. "Fine! Don't trust me," throwing an angry whisper his direction. "By all means, continue your globe trotting Carmen Santiago style with your Dora the explorer idiot of a brother. And while you're both at it," I step up to Stefan's face, "Stay blown up this time. I. Don't. Care."
"That's the point!" spits Stefan out, barely keeping his voice low. "You don't care so why are you helping Elena? Helping us?"
"She's in my body and I want it back!"
"Not buying it," says Damon bluntly.
"...And Caroline," I add softly, trying a more sappy touch they might buy. "To save her. I told you she's going to die. She's the only one who helped me while I was human."
Damon rolls his eyes. "You forget we know you're the one who killed her the first time."
I roll my eyes. "I did her a favor."
"To save your ass," he shot back.
"Your point Damon?"
"Something's still off Katherine! How did you know we were in England? How did you know to find us at that shop?" he presses.
"I was dead and thought of finding you guys because a red head who I think might be some kind of Angel of Death told me to as part of a deal to make me immortal. Next thing I know, I open my eyes and I'm in England with you two. Oh, still don't believe me Damon? I know! That's why I didn't tell you idiot!" Oh my god I want to pull my hair out, I think, fed up with their hesitation.
"Know what? I'm going in," I finally say, thoroughly done with them both. "You can see if your precious Elena is in here or take your chances trying to find her on your own again."
Without waiting to hear their response, I turn on my heel and go in...
Only to freeze at the sight that greets me.
The red haired witch turns with the sound of the door closing behind me, the witch beside her, following her lead.
The red head smiles at me, a bloody, curved dagger in her hand, dead bodies and desiccated vampires around her. Finally, I notice a bald, African American man in a white suit, dead at her feet.
"Welcome back Katherine," she says. "Just in time."
"Who's that?" I say, gesturing at the man in the suit.
"Papa Tunde," she says with a smile, stepping over him without a backwards glance. "He and the others sacrificed themselves for our cause. Their power, their energy, is now in this blade. Now, we have everything we need to get back at Klaus and you back in your body."
I open my mouth to respond, but she looks past me, her eyes narrowing.
"You brought visitors," she says warily, her eyes fixed on Stefan and Damon coming to their senses behind me from the doorway.
"More vampires," says the witch next to Genevieve, clearly disapproving of their presence.
"Shut up Sophie," says Genevieve swiftly, chastising her. "Can we trust them?" she asks me.
"As much as you can trust me. They want to get back at Klaus too," I say smoothly.
"Definitely not going to argue there," says Damon with a slight grin.
Stefan gives a resolute nod which seems to be enough for Genevieve.
"Very well. Follow me."
We fall into step with her and Sophie. We walk through the abandoned warehouse til we come to some double doors that lead into a large room containing a tall altar on which a glass coffin resides. A slight squeak, one that is barely audible to my baby Elena vampire ears catches my attention, forever paranoid from centuries of running I guess. I smile slightly as Nadia flashes to a hidden corner of the ceiling, her eyes locking with mine once she is situated. I give her a virtually imperceptible nod and she returns it, not without arching an eyebrow and pointing at the coffin.
I train my eyes on it, the light of the full moon is falling on it, giving it an eerie glow in the dimly lit room. Below it, my eyes fall on two people being held down on tables. One being a very pissed off...
"Rebekah," murmurs Stefan, eyes wide.
And the other...
"Elena," whispers Damon, snark gone being replaced with worry and concern, seeing precious Elena (insert eye roll here please) strapped down on a nearby table beside the Original.
The whole set up screams out medieval slaughter and sacrifice but I don't give it any more thought as both captives give us their attention.
Elena's features brighten up at the sight of the Salvatores. She opens her mouth, but Damon raises his finger to his lips, silencing her.
Rebekah's face however, upon seeing us, fills with a hate that is nearly palpable. "As if dealing with one doppleganger is not enough."
"Please sweetie, we all know I'm the only one that counts," I say, giving her sickeningly sweet smile.
"Not to the ever dashing Salvatore brothers," she spits out with disdain. "Elena is the star, always the one they'll worship and protect. Clearly so desperate that they'd work with you. Isn't that right Stefan? Playing out some revenge fantasy against Nik and my family is just a bonus when you get to save your damsel in distress and hopefully take out the garbage that shares her face."
I flash to Rebekah, grabbing one of the candle holders nearby to stab her with it.
I revel in her scream, hovering over her subdued body on the table, the scent of vervain obvious, making her laughingly weak.
"You know, you should be nice to me," I say with a sneer, leaning over the candle holder that I stuck in her, smirking at her discomfort. "Especially since I can make all this go away."
"I'd rather drink a werewolf venom and a vervain cocktail thanks," she spits out as I turn to walk away from her, leaving my makeshift weapon in place. "Elijah will never forgive you for this. Wonder who you'll go running to when Nik and I come for you."
I stop in my tracks, my smile falling at the mention of Elijah. I want to throw it in her face that her threats mean nothing since I'm already dead you bitch, that I have no future that includes Elijah anymore, and...
A side door suddenly opens stalling my mental tirade, the sounds of two people struggling coming into the room.
"Get...Get your hands off me Marcel! Ahh!"
A very pregnant Hayley stumbles through the door, an arm twisted behind her back and under Marcel's grasp.
My eyes widen in surprise. Wait. Why is she here?
I throw Genevieve a disapproving look, which she ignores.
Rebekah reacts immediately beside me, panicked.
"You traitorous bastard!" she screams at the man named Marcel. "How could you?!"
"Anything to get your kingdom back from those meddling Originals, even kidnapping a pregnant woman," answers Genevieve for him. "Isn't that right Marcellus?"
He clenches his teeth, but says nothing.
"And the harvest witch?" Genevieve asks.
He rolls his eyes, but calls out. "D. Come on in."
A beautiful young girl comes in, barely a teen from the looks of it. She tucks a stray brown hair behind her ear nervously, looking at Marcel.
I really don't like the looks of this.
"Welcome, Davina," says Genevieve.
The young girl's hand drops to her side and she glares at Genevieve in response. "Sorry. Do I know you?"
"No need to be so hostile. We're all friends here," she answers her smoothly, walking up to Rebekah whose eyes haven't left Hayley, wincing in pain as she continues to struggle under Marcel's grasp.
"This is all types of wrong," mumbles Stefan in disapproval, eyes trained on Hayley.
Tell me about it, I think, agreeing with Stefan.
"Shut up Stef. Not our problem," Damon retorts under his breath. "We're here to get Elena. Let the looney tunes crew do their thing with Klaus' bitch and Barbie Original."
"What are you planning Genevieve?" I say, not sharing Damon's cold-blooded sentiments. I really couldn't care less about the she wolf but harassing a pregnant woman is not something that I'll ever cheer for. "What's all this have to do with me getting my body back?"
Genevieve's smile grows, standing over Rebekah with the bloody dagger raised. "Patience, dear Kat. I made you a promise and I intend to keep it."
With that, she plunges the dagger into Rebekah's heart. I take a startled step back away from Rebekah when she screams, her eyes fearful as the dagger sinks into her body.
"What the hell witch?!" shouts out Marcel, appalled. "This wasn't the deal! You said you wouldn't kill her!"
Genevieve looks up at him with feigned innocence. "And I'm not. She'll live..."
Rebekah lets out a gut wrenching scream.
"...Kinda," she says darkly with a shrug. "Sophie, grab the girl."
Sophie goes for Davina, but Marcel, enraged, releases Hayley, who doesn't move, transfixed by the sight of Rebekah in pain.
Before Marcel can reach Sophie, Genevieve uses her magic to bring him to his knees, a painful gasp escaping his lips.
Davina retaliates at Sophie's approach, lifting her hand to defend herself, making Sophie stop in her tracks.
"Let Marcel go or I swear I'll..."
In mid threat, Davina's eyes bulge out of their sockets, her hands flying to her throat.
My eyes widen as a red line starts to grow on her neck, as if someone is slicing it open.
Okay. Everything is about to go to shit. Time to bail.
The Salvatores clearly think the same thing, rushing to Elena when the doors blast open and a blond woman comes walking through, hands outstretched, muttering that witch mumbo jumbo. Who...
"Mother?" croaks Rebekah, stunned.
Oh. No. It's really time to go.
"Esther?! What is ESTHER doing here?" cries Elena in fear, now free, the Salvatores and her behind me.
"Don't know, but what I DO know is that Original witches and dopplegangers don't mix," I say, glancing over at Davina trying to resist both Sophie and Esther with her magic but failing, the angry red line spreading across her neck.
"Davina!" shouts Marcel, helplessly, still subdued by Genevieve who is watching Esther with wicked glee as she kills the kid.
"We've got to get out of here," I say in a harsh whisper. "Go!"
In a flash, they're out of the side door, with me hot on their heels, but I hit an invisible wall and stumble back.
Damn it.
"Where exactly do you think you're running off to, my dear? You are our esteemed guest," says Esther.
I slowly turn, finding Davina's body crumpled on the floor, coming face to face with the Original Witch, Sophie and Genevieve.
"What are you up to Mother?" mutters Rebekah weakly through her pain. "What is this?"
"This is a family reunion."
The breath leaves my lungs when a dark haired, middle aged woman makes her entrance through the double doors, confident and powerful looking.
But it isn't to her my eyes are drawn to. It's the creature, the woman beside her with red eyes, jet black hair and what looks like three wings coming out of her back wrapping around her right side as her bored gaze falls on me.
Instantly, a slow smile spreads across her lips, revealing sharp fangs.
She opens her mouth, but the words come out of the middle aged woman beside her.
"Well. Welcome my new executioner. Getting the hang of the perks of death it seems."
I hear Nadia stifle a gasp in her hiding spot behind me, and thankfully she keeps herself quiet after that.
"How do you know I'm dead?" I say, my voice a little over a whisper at the reminder.
The creature rolls her eyes and again, her mouth is moving but the words are coming out of the other woman.
"I was there at King's Park Katerina when Klaus killed you. Do you not recall...Ah yes. Forgive me. I...We looked different then."
"I'm gathering that Genevieve works for you then? That you made her use Elena and the promise of getting me back into my body as a trap to get me here?" I say, cutting a vicious glare at the smirking Genevieve.
Both the woman and the creature smile. "Indeed, but my original reason for doing that has changed. I have found that like you, my doppleganger is out to kill me and can no longer be trusted. Making you a potential traitor. For all I know..."
Her eyes narrow dangerously, her demeanor cold as ice.
"You're working for her."
I stiffen. "Doppleganger?"
"The red head with the triangle tattoo?" she supplies.
Oh my god, I think, taking in her face in a new light. It's true. If you take away the red eyes, the black hair, the paleness of her skin...Wow.
"Her."
"Yes. Her. And the fact you do not recollect me in this form means that we haven't met in the church yet. You haven't met Manning."
Esther reacts to that. "Manning?! What does he..."
"Silence!" A harsh, inhuman voice echoes throughout the room from the creature, making us all cringe but Sophie, Rebekah, Hayley, and Marcel who don't look like they heard a thing. "Do not question me, mortal!"
Esther bows her head and I try to step away, but the creature is suddenly in my face, her three wings extended, the tips, brushing my cheek.
Uncontrollable sobs fill the room as I just make out the middle aged dark haired woman collapse in front of me, Esther instantly going to console her.
"Please...Please kill me sister," she says, in tears. "Don't let it take me again. The darkness...The darkness is too great!"
Esther holds her tightly. "I am sorry Dahlia. So sorry."
A cold hand tilts my face towards the creature in front of me and I fight the fear that threatens to take over. After being prey for so long, you learn quickly to never show your fear to the one hunting you.
You buy time.
"Now be truthful dear Katerina," it says, her voice coming from her own mouth now. "Are you her executioner or mine? We fellow dopplegangers have to stick together."
"Do we?" I say. "What do I gain if I help you?"
"Who is she talking to?" asks Sophie under her breath to Genevieve.
"Our mistress," says Genevieve. "She is spirit. You can't see her. Only the dead, or those who have been to the Other Side can. For we all belong to her, see her face, before we go to our final destination."
From that description, I finally get confirmation on who I suspected I've been talking to, everything clicking together. Her smile widens, watching me finally step back in fear, realizing what she is.
"You're Death," I whisper.
"I am," she says without missing a beat. "I am the coldness that envelops your being before your mortal flesh loses function, the dread, the fear that takes over before the end. At the same time, Alessia is the peace you feel that makes you smile when you take your last breath. The hope you grasp that everything will be well. Before the fall, we were one. A complete being that governed all mortal souls, but our spirit was severed as punishment for helping...him. I am now but a fragment of...Her. Alessia. Her dark shadow, the first, true doppleganger. Unlike you, however, I am not my own being. I am flawed."
I try to run, but she is in front of me again, stopping me in my tracks, advancing towards me as I try to keep my distance.
"Can you imagine not being your own person? Your existence, contingent upon, a spawn of another? It's maddening! And she wants the same, to be whole, using you and all the rest to do so," she continues. "But, doppleganger to doppleganger, I want to give you a chance to choose the side you'll fight on. Hers..."
My back bumps against the altar, leaving me nowhere to go.
"...Or mine?" she finishes with a growl.
"How can I help you? I'm dead."
"To become spirit and to never transcend to the Maker is a gift. It is power. It is...Immortality."
"I don't know how to help you."
"Get me Klaus," she says urgently. "You despise him so offer his soul up to me! The level of darkness in him provides enough energy to make me my own person!" She cries excitedly. "I would no longer need to sustain myself on morsels of dark souls here and there! I'd be self sustaining! Unstoppable!"
And I can't help but think that there is no way anything good can come from that. The dark side of Death having more free rein on the world than it has already?
Yeah. No thanks.
I hate Klaus. Trust me I do. I'd like nothing more to see him pay the ultimate price in Hell, Oblivion, whatever. Yet, the creature revealed something key here and I don't think it's lying.
Everything dies.
Sooner or later, Original or regular vampire, something causes Death, Her, to claim all of us. And if death is unescapable, and this version of it gets what she wishes and becomes more powerful than the version I met earlier...
No. I might be already gone, but Elijah, Nadia...
I'd rather we all answer to the red head than to this monster.
The red head may have gotten me killed, but at least from her, I can feel some warmth, some good.
This being in front of me though...All I feel is cold.
Evil.
I can't help her. I can't.
I do a bad job hiding my disapproval because she reads it on my face instantly, her excited grin fading.
"You will not help me."
I say nothing, not bothering trying to lie, knowing it wouldn't work.
"Shame then," she says, stepping away from me. "Fortunate for you, I agreed with Alessia to make you Manning's successor. Clearly a ploy I see now. For spirits, our word is binding and cannot be broken as easily as you mortals can. However..."
Her voice drops low, full of malice.
"Your ascendance to Executioner will not be without pain. That, I promise you."
With an evil smile, one of her wings shatters like glass and its feathers swirl around me.
"Now leave me. I have a new body to inhabit. The one I have now is not powerful enough to allow for what I plan to do," she says.
Esther turns pale. "No. Dahlia..."
The woman besides Esther grabs her arm, stopping her protest. "Yes!" she declares, her voice hopeful, eager even. "I am finished. Do not plead for me. Anything is better than this. My suffering will now end!" she ends with a mad grin.
"Oh no Dahlia," says the dark side of Death softly. She disappears and reappears next to the glass coffin on top of the tall altar in the room, gazing upon it with growing greed and excitement with every word. "All the firstborn you sacrificed to me so you can become powerful, taking one from your own sister as an offering to me...Darling, there is no redeeming your soul now." Her smile returns, darker and more malevolent than ever, giving Dahlia one last look.
"You're Lucifer's now."
Dahlia pales, her body shuddering. "No...Not him."
Genevieve and Esther simultaneously step away from her, as a shadow passes over and blocks the moonlight coming into the room. This time, Rebekah, Marcel and Hayley react to the change in the room.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" whispers Rebekah, puffs of cold air coming from her mouth.
"It's..." says Hayley, holding herself. "It's cold."
"With your death and the death of the harvest witch, all that power can go to my new body. Genevieve, Esther, start the ritual," says Death. "And keep the she wolf close. I will also need the power of firstborn in her womb. Genevieve, have Sophia kill the male."
At Genenvieve's command, Sophie releases her magic to come up to Marcel, Esther and Genevieve starting an incantation in unison. She doesn't blink an eye when Sophie stakes him.
Hayley's mouth drops and Rebekah cries out in shock.
Right when all light from the room, natural and artificial goes out.
Esther and Genevieve's chanting is the only thing that is heard in the room.
I try to move forward, but the feathers surrounding me cut my skin.
Then the chanting stops.
After a few moments, a male voice echoes in the room and I freeze. Its accent, beautiful but wrong somehow. It makes my heart clench in apprehension in my chest.
"What do you want?" it says.
For once, I hear Death stutter.
"I...I have a soul that belongs to you my lord," she says in quiet reverence.
"Do you now?" it sneers.
Dahlia is sniffing, trembling.
Whoever the being to whom the voice belongs seems to take notice of her then.
"Indeed," and I can hear how this pleases him. "She is mine."
Suddenly, there is a flash of blinding light behind Dahlia. What looks like a hand punches through her chest, making her eyes bulge, her mouth gaping. The light spreads through her body, giving her skin the appearance of fractured glass. With that spark of light, for a split second, I can see a being with six black wings, full black armor, blond hair crowning his head and the number 666 on his forehead. His gold eyes lift to mine, then turn a pupiless black that makes my stomach flip in fear when he squeezes Dahlia's heart and the light fissures in her body go dark. With a yank, he pulls the light out, his wings covering him before the room returns to normal.
The being is gone and Dahlia's body is ash on the ground, as if she was burned alive.
Finally, my line of vision is shut out by Death's feathers, right when I see a woman rise from the glass coffin.
"Freya..." whispers Esther in astonishment.
"I know you. You were with Kol," comes in Rebekah's voice, awed.
"She is your sister Rebekah," says Esther.
"You...You lie! She died in the Old World. She..."
Things start to fade away, my eyes fluttering close when the feathers surround me. I'm able to open them one last time before everything goes black...
...Catching Nadia staring down at me, her eyes wide with fear.
When I open my eyes again, I find myself staring into a pair of stormy blue eyes belonging to a man with curly brown hair. I grasp my head when it fills with memories and I spin to turn to the church where the Dark Mistress, Death just tried to take me in what feels like minutes ago and he...
I turn back to him. "Manning."
He gives me a curious look.
"You saved me."
A slow smile graces his features then, along with understanding. "Welcome back."
"I was in New Orleans. How did I get here?" I say, genuinely confused.
"You did your first leap between the Land and the Living and the Other Side I gather. Do not concern yourself. It will become commonplace."
He turns, walking off and I follow him. "The Dark Mistress. She's Death."
"I surmised as much long ago," he responds patiently.
"So is...Alessia?" I think that's her name. "The red head with the triangle tattoo. The Dark Mistress is her evil Doppleganger."
That piece of news gets the response I expected. He freezes and slowly turns to face me.
"They have this thing going on between them and we're all caught in the middle," I continue in a rush. "The Dark Mistress wants Klaus because his soul is so dark because of all the bad things he's done. She thinks she can use his energy or something to become her own person and super powerful. I don't know what Alessia wants in all this but I doubt we can trust her. All I know they are both WAY too interested in Klaus and Caroline. They are the key to everything somehow. I feel it. I don't get how Caroline matters besides being able to use her to trap Klaus but..."
"No," cuts in Manning, who was listening in avid interest up to this point, shaking his head. "No."
He walks off again.
Yeah, really a conversation stopper.
I step in front of him, arms folded. "No to what exactly?" I press irritably, flicking a curl off my eye.
"Alessia is NOT the enemy," he says resolutely.
I roll my eyes at his naive, sentimental feelings. "Why? Because she's the love of your life, like Esther?" I say with a snort. "Which reminds me. Just how many psycho women are you in love with? Any more bastards roaming the planet, ruining innocent people's lives that we need to look out for, in addition to Klaus?"
His face hardens. "Careful, Katerina."
"You know, we wouldn't be in this mess if you'd never got with Esther to begin with. I guess you didn't love your fiancee Alessia that much if you were unfaithful to her with a married woman."
Faster than I can react, his hand is around my throat and his whole being gets enveloped in darkness and shadow, his werewolf eyes cold and piercing.
"My affairs are none of your concern and you will not speak of them to me. Do. You. Understand?" his voice hard and cutting.
"Yes. I understand," I manage to cough out. "I understand that...You get to know everything about me, that you get to ask me to help your son, who murdered me, while I'm left completely in the dark about your feelings and motivations."
With that, his eyes seep back to stormy blue, his grip relenting.
I step away and he regards me with a mixture of curiosity and...Should I say...Respect?
"You are right. I am asking you favors and provide nothing in return. Forgive me."
I give him a stiff nod, rubbing my neck.
"She left me."
I lift up my head, surprised at the sound of vulnerability I hear.
"Alessia. She disappeared after a night together and I was..." he struggles to find the word that I quickly provide.
"...Hurt."
He averts his gaze, continuing like I said nothing. "I found other joys in life, and Esther was a welcome distraction. Beautiful, powerful, smart. She filled the void in my heart and yes, I came to love her at a point. Though she was not mine to have."
"Then..." he sighs. "Alessia came back and I found myself drawn to her again though Esther and I had Niklaus but I digress. Alessia wouldn't betray me."
"Not even in revenge for you sleeping with another woman?" I say, expressing my doubt. Hell hath no fury like woman scorned as the saying goes.
He flinches at that. "You do not understand."
"You're right, I don't. Alessia..."
"...Who is the opposite of the Dark Mistress, if your theory is to be believed, who is an agent of pure good, is not capable of doing any thing selfish or evil. She cannot be the good side of Death yet able to do bad things like her other half."
I open my mouth to retort, but finding nothing to say to refute his logic, I settle on:
"I could be wrong."
He smirks. "Both you and I know that Katherine Pierce is rarely wrong."
I find myself smiling at that. "Still. This could be one of those rare times."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because if you are mistaken, and Alessia is indeed an enemy, this tale is over and we are all lost."
Okay. Not liking that. "Fine. Maybe your girl is okay, but what do we do now? Wait for all this to play out?" I say incredulously.
He smirks again and I can't help but be reminded of how much he looks like my murderer.
"Pleased to see you realize how precarious this situation is."
"Total understatement," I grumble.
"So I can rely on your cooperation to track down the White oak stakes and help the others, including Niklaus?"
He watches me silently when I say nothing, gauging my reaction.
"So that is what this comes down to isn't it?" I ask unhappily. "In order to stop the Dark Mistress from being complete, from controlling us all, I have to save not just Caroline, but Klaus," saying his name with as much disgust I can muster.
I clench my teeth and fists, furious at the unfairness of it all. Out of all the people in the universe who should be going to Hell, he's number one!
"I know it is hard for you, assisting your murderer..."
"Shut up!" I snap. "Don't pretend you give a damn about how I feel. You'll do, say anything to protect your son!"
"You are not mistaken. I would."
I glare at him.
"But I can appreciate your desire for vengeance battling with the logic of the good you ought to do. I am, after all, asking you to do what I was too weak to do when I lived. I chose to kill 1,000 men, women and children rather than showing mercy. A sin that nearly had me claimed by the devil himself and that I still have to pay for even though my time is growing short."
I'm absorbing this revelation right when he walks off again.
Again, I stop him.
"What do you mean your time is growing short?" I press, catching up to him.
"I have three souls left to offer up to the Dark Mistress so I can transcend into Heaven. If I do not make the payment in time..."
He swallows deeply.
"For 1,000 people you killed?"
He nods.
"What happens?"
"Hell awaits."
He looks stoically ahead, but his eyes betray his fear. Rightfully so.
"I saw a soul get taken there," I quietly share. "I think I saw..."
I shiver, remembering the being with the gold eyes that took Dahlia's light from her.
Manning's face is the picture of stunned.
"You saw the Devil's face and lived?!"
It's my turn to swallow. "Was that really him? Blond hair, gold eyes..."
"...And the numbers 666 on his forehead."
I nod mutely."Great. So that's him. Lucifer."
"Yes. I only saw him once. When he was taking my soul to Hell with him."
My eyes widen, my turn to be shocked. "How the hell did you stop him?"
"I do not remember."
I look down, thinking over what that may mean on top of everything else.
"What I do know is that he takes the souls that the Dark Mistress no longer has any use for. Therefore, once my time as Executioner has ended, and I haven't met my quota, I have no doubt he will come for me again."
"Not until we finish with you first."
Manning goes rigid, turning slowly to the owner of the voice.
We both take in the legion of men, women, and children that suddenly appear in the field before us. Rage and an icy cold pour off them in waves.
"Please don't tell me..." I start, trying to count but giving up. I'm pretty sure it would be 1,000.
"Hello Manning," says a big brawny, grey haired man in medieval leather, his eyes glowing werewolf yellow, battle ax in hand. "We're from the Crescent Wolf Pack, envoys of The Dark Mistress, come to give our regards. Along with one other..."
The crowd parts then, revealing a man in a leather black tunic, trimmed in gold, his light blond hair tossing in the wind, his sky blue eyes trained on Manning...
Whose color drains from his face, his eyes shimmering.
"Dante..." he breathes out.
"Hello Little Brother."
Great. Another family reunion I did not sign up for.
"It's not possible. You transcended. You all did," says Manning.
"How can I move on when I have not repaid you for killing me?" Dante answers coldly.
Manning shakes his head. "No," he whispers. "I did no such thing."
His eyes narrow at him. "Are you certain? If I recall, we went to war over your son. You may not have drove the sword in my chest, but the guilt is on your shoulders. The fault is yours!"
"No."
"You killed me!"
"No..."
"A murderer. My own brother..."
"Enough!" Manning snaps, his eyes glowing with rage. "Whatever you are, you are not my brother. He would never say these things to me."
"If I am not Dante, then who am I?"
Manning snaps his fingers in response, a dark blade coming into his hand, a slow grin gracing his face.
"Someone who is going back to the Dark Mistress along with his doppleganger friends. Tails wagging between their legs in failure."
A unified growl erupts from the group in response and Manning's smile broadens, clearly reveling in the challenge.
"Take him," says Dante.
In a rush, they all come after us.
All 1,000 of them.
I grab his arm, Manning's eyes still fixated on his brother.
"You can't be serious about fighting them all. We need to run!"
He doesn't flinch, his eyes going hard as steel, his face, resolute.
"No. I am Executioner. They all will rue the day they thought of touching me."
And here is the arrogant attitude that his son Klaus inherited.
"You're crazy! It's two versus a thousand! Literally!"
He yanks his arm from me. "Then make it one and run," he growls in my face. "I care not for cowards. I, however, will not cower in fear before them. Not even before that thing wearing my brother's face."
With that, he strides forward to the horde of dopplegangers descending on us, his current wardrobe giving way to medieval wear that hugs his manly, fit shape way too well.
Guess another perk in being dead is instant wardrobe change. Noted.
They swarm him and I can't decide if he is just brave or plain stupid.
It's not like they can kill us again I guess, but I don't want to know about the creative ways they can make up for that starring the Dark Mistress.
That is enough to make me move and jolt me out of my hesitation. I feel a bit guilty but shake it off. He'll be fine. It's not the first time he had to take down a thousand supernaturals.
I flash around a turn and collide with a hard chest, stumbling backward.
I am on my feet again, looking up to find...
"Mason?" I breathe, eyes wide.
"Hello Katherine. Don't worry. You have a lot of people you've screwed over that want to say hello too..."
His face drops into a mask of pure sadistic rage. "...In a million, painful ways."
Warily, my gaze goes behind him to see the people I've killed or arranged their deaths appear one by one, the memory of what the Dark Mistress told me earlier falling on me like a bucket of cold water:
"Your ascendance to Executioner will not be without pain. That, I promise you."
And I swallow hard, regretting leaving Manning on his own to fight.
A/N Forgive me for the lack of Klaroline in this. I am working on the next chapter which hopefully will make up for it. Still want to hear what you guys are thinking since there was some important reveals this chapter.
Answer to Guest reviews:
Guest #1- I updated. Hope you still are enjoying the story!
Guest #2 - Caroline does have free will despite of the Vow. The vow only came into being because of already existing feelings that Klaus and Caroline have for each other. It would not have worked otherwise. The Vow does not create feelings, it feeds off them and heightens them, whether it is lust, comfort, affection, etc. Sorry you didn't get that from the last 20 chapters.
Guest #3 You will have your answer the next chapter where you discover what Klaus is actually up to. Like I said in the author's note in the beginning of the chapter, I agree with your assessment that Klaus would never leave Caroline that can die any day to take care of Hayley and a baby he never wanted. Hopefully, that should give you a clue about what Klaus is REALLY up to.
Guest #4 - You are brilliant! That is EXACTLY the type of question you should be asking for paying attention and I will answer it. You are right. Katherine is not linked to Caroline so her life shouldn't be in danger UNLESS Caroline was never in danger of dying because of Katherine TO BEGIN WITH! Think about that. If Manning has Caroline's name on him, guaranteeing her death, but Katherine is already dead and Caroline is still alive, then the danger to Caroline's life lies elsewhere. The question is, what or who is going to be responsible for Caroline dying now that Katherine is gone? I will say this. A big hint is given in THIS chapter and is realized by Katherine when talking to the Dark Mistress. You are free to guess via review ;)