Hello loyal fans! Because of the atrocity known as 4x20, Julie Plec, sadly, was such a horrid writer, she actually affected my own, giving me a serious case of writer's block.
Anywho, I am so excited to anyone that had continued with support for this story. I want to give every single person who has read, favorite, followed, or reviewed a virtual hug, kiss, and klaroline kiss ;)
Also, feel free to PM me with any questions, or follow me on tumblr at swingklaroline or louoftherings.
Thank you most of all to my ever-fabulous beta, StarJade101, who has been absolutely amazing in the brainstorm process!
Anyone who has any names suggestion or ideas about the gender, please PM me or put in your reviews!
Thank you so much for your continued support! And let us all pray that this child is not Klaus's, or it is adopted by Klaroline ;)
-xoxo Katarhyne
Bound By Blood
Chapter XXV: Family
First time he kissed me, he but only kissed
The fingers of this hand wherewith I write,
And ever since it grew more clean and white,...
Slow to world-greetings...quick with its "Oh, list,"
When the angels speak. A ring of amethyst
I could not wear here plainer to my sight,
Than that first kiss. The second passed in height
The first, and sought the forehead, and half missed,
Half falling on the hair. O beyond meed!
That was the chrism of love, which love's own crown,
With sanctifying sweetness, did precede.
The third, upon my lips, was folded down
In perfect, purple state! since when, indeed,
I have been proud and said, "My Love, my own."
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese 38: First time he kissed me
Caroline POV
The club was even emptier than yesterday.
No guards stopped us when we walked in, and it looked abandoned.
Elijah and Katherine stood at the railing, him pointing at something and Katherine laughing a bit as Elijah spoke, his eyes twinkling and the corners of his mouth turning up in a slight smile as Katherine giggled.
They stood in front of the "round table" where we sat the night before. Though now it was easier to see the thrones I hadn't see the night before.
Rebekah's throne was a deep royal purple, and carved with not the horrible scenes present on her brothers' chair, but heroic scenes. The carvings, like those of Klaus and Kol, were both fictional and historical, though Rebekah's were more geared toward heroic women, rather than evil men.
Elijah's throne was a striking dark green, with his carving being an odd mixture of the heroic, and the villains. I could recognize some scenes from Bible, and a few from famous tales, like King Arthur, but otherwise, like Elijah's personality, it was a "happy" medium between light and dark.
Kol and Bonnie were nowhere to be found.
Though the others hadn't known it, Klaus had been racing Stefan and Damon to the bar, though Damon didn't know where it was.
"Did you lose Kol already?" Klaus called to his brother as he led me into the abandoned club. Elijah rolled his eyes.
"I didn't lose him. He lost himself. Muttering something about his bloody grimories." Elijah responded. "He been acting weird lately, don't you think?"
"Lately? He's been acting weird for the past thousand years." Klaus drawled, reaching under the table to open an unseen cabinet, pulling out a bottle of amber alcohol.
Elijah chuckled, a deep resonant tone, and scooted his glass over to where Klaus was pouring himself a glass of bourbon.
I looked off into the distance, staring into the crystal of the chandelier, not wanting to look at anyone at the table. I heard a car door slam, and the deep tones of Stefan's voice, then followed by the familiar giggle of Rebekah.
You could taste the awkwardness as the pair sat down at the table. Katherine stared at me quizzically, while the pair of brothers tried to melt each other under their own harsh glances. I looked anywhere but.
"Where's Kol?" Rebekah asked, sitting down at the table. Stefan sat beside her in another chair, looking cautiously at the other occupants of the table.
"That's been our question for the past thousand years dear sister… I'd assume that he went off to finish what he started earlier with Miss Bennett." Klaus drawled, breaking his concentration to look at Rebekah with a thoroughly annoyed look.
"He's probably just getting his damn grimories… Do you remember when we found out he got the gift?" Elijah corrected his siblings, as again Pyscho Killer rang from Stefan's pocket.
"What?" Stefan snapped into his phone, as the whole table smiled, minus Elijah who looked mildly offended at the song.
"I'm lost." Damon mumbled into the phone, obviously embarrassed, asking for directions.
"Where are you?" Stefan said, moving away from the table and into a corner to tell his brother where to go. A few minutes later after intent whispering, and one intelligible out burst from Damon, Stefan came back to the table as the last pair entered the bar.
Still no Kol or Bonnie.
I prayed that they were not having sex over a grimorie.
No.
Just no.
*Bound By Blood*
Bonnie POV
Kol led me through a marshy area, holding a flashlight in his hand while I clutched the grimorie. Though it was just dusk, under the willows it was already dark. I swore that strange lights twinkled, like sprites leading the way, but I had to be wrong.
All in all, the entire scene fondly reminded me of Princess and the Frog, though I wasn't terribly keen into getting turned into one, however at times I was tempted to turn Kol.
"Where are we going?" I asked as he helped me over a muddy, bubbling patch of ground. I held up my dress, hiking it up just a little bit above my ankles to prevent it from getting into the mud.
"The witch grounds." He answers plaintively, though it comes out like an omen.
Soon we reached a clearing whose ground looked and felt solid, an island in the bayou. The scent of magic is in the air, dancing under my nose.
Beginning to trace the symbols in the ground, Kol set down our other things under a massive willow tree, hiding behind its streams of leaves for a brief second. When he emerged, his chest was bare. I blushed, and then scowled at my work, not wanting him to see how blatantly I had been admiring him.
He looked anxious, moving from side to side, messing with his hair every couple of second, or fidgeting with his necklace.
It looked ancient. A thread made of what I thought was leather, hung down, the weight of it coming from a roughly shaped silver medallion, and carved with the strange, familiar symbols of our art.
Right over his heart, lay an old scar, probably from the sword thrust that so violently ended his magical-though human- life. Next to it, carved into his skin as faded white lines, was a symbol of our magic, a pentagram born into our skin.
All those who had the potential to practice were born with them. Mine was incidentally in the exact same place.
I nodded at him once, and he looked at me questioningly. He was scared. I gave him a reassuring smile and he stepped into the circle, lying down on in the center.
I looked down at him for a moment then closed my eyes and began chanting.
*Bound By Blood*
Caroline POV
"What do you mean he's gone?" Klaus yelled at Marcel who didn't even cower in the slightest under the raging hybrid's gaze. Gently, I placed a hand on Klaus's bicep. He realxed a bit, but he still has murder on the mind.
"I mean exactly what I said, Klaus." Marcel growled right in Klaus's face. "They went to the room, grabbed a grimorie, and left. He's your brother; I'm not responsible for keeping track of him."
Elijah was swearing into his phone, while Rebekah paced the room. They didn't like not knowing where Kol had gone. Knowing him, it was either rash or dangerous, or both.
"No answer." Elijah said, his brow creasing as he slammed his phone down on the table.
"You said they took one of his grimories right?" Rebekah asked, an idea forming in her bright blue eyes.
Marcel nodded.
"I think I know where they're going." She said. We all whirled to look at her.
*Bound By Blood*
"There's an old witch ground where Kol used to go when we lived here." Rebekah lectured as we trampled through the disgusting mud.
Not everyone had come with us. Damon and Elena had "volunteered" to stay behind, while Stefan had been ordered to watch the pair, as they in turn watched the club.
For some reason, Elijah had insisted on bringing Katherine. The doppelganger voiced her concern for her footwear, something Rebekah and I were thinking, but didn't say, quite loudly, grating on our ears.
Klaus tensed with each passing step, staring into the darkness worriedly. It didn't help that he already wanted to kill Katherine to begin with, not to mention she was annoying all of us to no end. She and Elijah slowly fell behind us.
I accidentally stepped into another piece of false ground, by foot sinking down into the mud. I squealed a bit. Klaus gave me a look.
I didn't want to walk anymore, returning his look with one of my own, plainly telling him I wanted to be carried.
He looked at me with an exasperated look and sigh.
"No Caroline." He told me and kept walking.
"Klaus." I drew out his name, stomping after him. Rebekah smiled at me, as I rolled my eyes at her brother.
"I am not carrying you, Caroline, so stop begging." He said, looking back at me, illuminating half of his face in a teasing grin. "Bekah dear, are we close?"
"We're here." She sassed back to her brother. However, I didn't see anything. Klaus and I looked around, as Rebekah rolled her eyes at the both of us, stepping over to a weeping willow and pushing back the curtain of leaves.
So that's where they went, I thought, as I stared at the flaming pentagram.
*Bound By Blood*
Bonnie POV
The spell wasn't that complex, probably because it was just calling the spirits to do the majority of the work.
Kol stared up at me with wide eyes, blatant in his fear. I moved the pentagram pendent to match up with his mark as I chant.
Spirituum
Benedictio super illum benedictionem tuam
There wasn't anything noticeably different with this line, just an introduction.
Sanguis meus
I took a silver knife from my side and slit my wrist in a smooth fashion.
My blood drips onto his mark, tainting the silver red.
Restituendam aciem frangitur
Reseras donum
Kol lets out a gasp, arching his back in pain. Out of the corner of my eyes, I spied the rest of the Original family standing off to the sidelines with their mouths agape.
I wasn't wrong when I thought that they understood Latin.
Klaus tried to throw himself at the outside of circle, but Caroline held him back, her eyes wide and hair shining gold in the light.
Rebekah had cry perched on her lips as she watched Kol cry out in pain.
Still I continued.
Quod regnum est posse in hoc
Reseras donum
Power never goes away. I learned that when I "lost" my magic. Nothing ever truly dies, leaves, or disappears.
Aequalis ad Silam,
recludam
The spell was odd in this way. You can never take away something from nature, though it calls for balance. Vampires were created, though a mistake in Esther's mind, but they did counter werewolves. The Earth needed to balance this new threat. Silas was loose cannon. Kol had the potential. There were just blockades in the way of getting it out.
CONPENSO
Lucem tenebras
Kol was no darker than me. There is no darkness without light. Darkness doesn't mean evil. Darkness merely characterizes what you are, not who you are. Vampires, werewolves, witches, hybrids, all of us are dark creatures, though it doesn't make you evil.
That's your own fault.
Magicae perdita, inventa est iterum
Reseras donum
Blood ran out of my nose, Kol's eyes became tortured. The flames rose higher.
Recludam magicis suis
At the last line, Kol finally screamed, before passing out. He looked so young, like this, minus his wounds. A smile plays on his lips, though his body was covered in blood. Mine and his.
I smiled a bit, before the world became black.
*Bound By Blood*
Caroline POV
"Bonnie!" I cried, as the flames died down and she collapsed on top of Kol. I started to rush over to her, but Klaus is already there, bending over his brother's face, seriously considering, by the look it, slapping him.
I pulled off Bonnie from Kol, whose chest was covered in red, with a circular burn mark over his heart.
"Bon! Bonnie!" I yelled in her face, shaking her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she says wearily.
"Five more minutes, Care."
Elijah and Katherine had finally gotten here, of course, Elijah carrying her. I shot Klaus a dirty look, though he doesn't notice, being too busy slapping the shit out of his brother.
Rebekah stood over Kol, screaming at him to wake up.
Surprisingly, he didn't.
Bonnie however did wake up. Pushing herself up with her left arm, she looked around, searching for the source of the loud noise. When she noticed the Originals, she bolted to her feet, shooing the two siblings away.
"STOP IT!" She yelled at Klaus. I grab his arm, pulling away from his brother. Rebekah looks at the pair on the ground confused, as Bonnie pressed her hands lightly to the mark on Kol's chest.
When she pulled away, she smiled to herself.
"It worked." She whispered, tears coming to her eyes. Then she turned to us. "He needs rest." She told Klaus rather pointedly, clearly indicating someone was going to have to carry him back. He begrudgingly steps forward, and throws his brother's limp form over his shoulder, grunting a bit.
"What exactly worked?" Elijah asked looked confused at the scene.
"You'll see." Bonnie said mysteriously, walking off through the willows into the night.
*Bound By Blood*
Kol POV
The last thing I remembered was only a feeling. I had been in deep pain, but the moment when Bonnie finished the incantation, the pain before would have been a welcome friend. My whole body had been on fire, demons circling me.
I couldn't help screaming.
Then, it was as though chains I didn't even know were wrapped around me had fallen away, broken.
I must have passed out, for where I was right now looked a lot like… well nothing.
Nothing was concrete, all just white smoke. I looked down, noticing that I was merely a wraith, with no corporal form. Odd… Was I dead?
"Kol." My mother's clear voice echoed behind me. I didn't turn.
"Kol." She repeated louder, placing a hand on my shoulder. I whirled ferociously, to swipe her hand off of me.
"Get off." I growled in her face. She appeared stunned.
"Now Kol…. I don't expect that from someone of such power…" I cut her off, hating her sentimental motherly tone. She had no right to that. She was the farthest thing from mother of the year.
"You have no right to expect anything from me. The moment you turned us, you lost your right as our mother…." I trailed off however, considering what she just said. Power?
"I'll be seeing you." She said ominously, fading into the white fog which covered my feet. Shit. She planned on coming back.
Suddenly, my world turned vertical, making me fall into the white smoke. A pain abruptly came behind my eyes, and I squeezed them, wanting to massage it.
Someone is already doing it for me. I try to open my eyes, but they are glued together. I groan.
"Shhhh." I immediately recognized Bonnie's voice, and her finger pressed to my lips, while her other hand ran itself through my hair with a mind of its own. "It's ok."
"Did it work?" I muttered, my lips still mainly blocked by her finger. She removeed it and I manage to open my eyes.
Her hair was still up, a few curls hanging down her face, barely touching mine, realizing our proximity. The myriad of colors that her eyes shone with was endless, as though she couldn't contain her…. Happiness. Every so often, a flash of white would appear against her coffee skin.
She nodded, a curl just touching my eyelashes.
We grinned at each other.
"Try something." She urged me, as I pulled myself up. I looked around the room, searching for something to do. I hadn't spent a thousand years studying grimories for nothing.
Looking down at my chest, staring at the only thing that had been with me all of my thousand years.
All of us had a totem. It had been a custom in our village, a way of coming of age. At 16, we all got a talisman, in the form of an animal representing our self, charmed to keep us from harm. It made sense. Sixteen was the first time we were truly allowed to leave the village, to hunt, to gather, to play.
Finn, of course, was the first to receive his. Our mother didn't make them, however, Ayanna made them for us. Something about a mother not being able to judge her child. How wrong she would be…
I had watched with eleven year old eyes, as my eldest brother stood in the ring of fire and had been handed his necklace. Finn had been lucky. A horse was a good symbol in our world.
When Elijah had gotten his, luck was on his side as well. Tigers made our father proud.
Nik had been nervous, however, when he got his. I remember him running off into the woods earlier that day to vomit, just from nerves alone. You couldn't change, your totem branded you forever.
That night everything changed. I had never seen Nik so scared, when Ayanna handed him a necklace with the distinct shape of a wolf.
Father had been livid. The moment the rest of the villagers left, he was on Nik, beating him bloody. And Nik did nothing. Couldn't do anything.
I had been only fourteen, and yet, I knew that Nik was going to die even though he had been beaten a thousand times before. I didn't even know what I did. I just put my hand and yelled "NO!" at my father and somehow, he was thrown back, all the way to the tree line.
My siblings had rushed to get the bloody body that was my brother off the ground; I stared blankly at my hand. My mother just stared at me. I was unexpected. I knew that she fully had expected, hoped, and wanted Rebekah to inherit the family gift.
My father was out cold, so I ran.
Later he had caught me and beat me until I was black and blue.
He did so for the next two years, before I became of age, trying to beat the magic out of me. My mother refused to teach me. I felt like an outcast in my own family. Bekah hated me. Oddly enough, Nik was the only one who semi-accepted me. Maybe partly because Mikael alternated our beatings.
Going secretly to Ayanna became what I lived for. All I had was my magic. Though it resulted in scars and bruises, it kept my mind.
When I got my own ceremony, I again shamed my family. A coyote was not a noble animal. They were the trickster, and in their own way, magic.
I brought myself back, gripping the dog-like wooden animal whose face was set in a lopsided grin. Taking a deep breath, closing my eyes, and whispering a couple of ancient Chinese words. Not all spells were in Latin, only those that were serious. But, this particular one was fun. Animating objects.
I felt the surge, wanting to cry of joy as I heard the howl of the miniature coyote. Bonnie looked at me in awe, wonder, and excitement as the puny hunter stalked on the coverlet of the bed.
As we stared at it, she giggles. Her laugh was infectious, somewhere in between a tinkling bell and an warbling bird call.
Suddenly, I don't even realize what I'm doing anymore. Thanking her? Anyway, I smashed my lips onto her still giggling mouth. She responded instantly and with equally heated fervor. Both of us were so lost in the excitement and joy that we forgot ourselves.
*Bound By Blood*
Klaus POV
I paced the length of my loft, looking every few seconds down to the levels below, straining to hear my younger brother's annoying voice.
Caroline laid on the bed on her stomach, but not directly, twisting a bit so her bump jutted out to the side, with a silver Macbook in front of her. Every few minutes she would give me a look, then just continued browsing.
I walked over to the canvas in the corner for a second, as the lower floors were still mostly silent, being as the rest of our mangled family had returned to Marcel's.
I had only half started the painting, merely just dark colors spattered on a white canvas. However, I'm bored with it.
Ripping the canvas down with a vengeance, I toss it in the corner and put a new one up, flipping through my sketchbook. Caroline, Caroline, Caroline. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do… Oddly, every sketch captured my imagination, make me want to bring color to the drawing, breathe life into the angel on the page.
I hadn't realized the real angel had crept up behind me, however.
"You're a stalker." She giggled into my ear, weaving her arms around me.
"I prefer to say I merely appreciate your beauty." Her smell invaded my senses, intoxicating my mind and making all I could think of was her. How her blonde curls fell on my shoulder, how her eyelashes just barely tickled my neck, how her laughter made me want to pick her up and never let go. She made me weak.
"Still you're a stalker." She laughed, throwing herself back on the bed and shutting the laptop with her foot, giving me an excellent view of her white lacy undergarments.
She wore white tonight. A silk gown, reaching just a bit above her knees, and did little to hide her cleavage.
Sighing and shifting a bit uncomfortably, I laid down beside her, facing towards her as she did me, though she doesn't look at me, instead moving her hand compulsively over her stomach with a slightly mysterious smile on her face. I just stared at her. She gasped slightly, then grabbed my hand.
"What?" I asked, as her excitement radiated off of her in waves, pressing my hand to her stomach.
"Feel." She ordered.
I stared at her incredulously, not feeling anything…. at first. Ever so slightly, there was movement in there.
"See that's our baby in there…" She rapidly spoke excitedly, her smile nearly taking up her whole face. I just looked at where my hand lay with wide eyes, my mouth agape. Her eyes sparkled.
I stunned myself, feeling salty tears rise to my eyes threatening to spill over.
"He's strong." I choked out, clearing my throat, as a particularly strong kick comes from the stomach. Caroline made a gasp, and then looked at me incredulously.
"He? How are you so sure it's a boy?"
"Alpha male?" I said confidently, giving her an equally incredulous glance.
"But, you're my Alpha Male." She said nuzzling my neck. Was it true that pregnant women were hornier? The familial moment had turned into a thick sexual one in a second.
Growling a bit, her human teeth nipped at my neck, careful not to draw blood. My eyes alight with renewed vigor as I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her under me.
Straggled her, I ran my hands down her sides as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to her lips. They were sweet, vaguely tasting of her minty toothpaste, with our teeth clinking together a bit as we opened our mouths, allowing our tongues to meet. Her hands moved from my neck up to my hair, weaving through it, messing with the already unruly curls.
"Caroline." I draw out her name in a groan, making the "C" of her melodic name sound like my "K." She gasps slightly into my mouth and begins to work my shirt up, finally pulling it off my head.
I pull back for a second and regard her perfect body, clothed down in white. In a sudden compulsion, a want to see the fully unclothed version of it anyways, I rip her gown down the front.
"Klaus." She moaned as I plunged back down. Her hands went immediately to my boxers, tearing them off as I had done to her gown. In my rush, I did the same to her thin lacy panties. Finally freed from clothes, I slid into her, pressing my hands on either side of her head. Thrusting into her, grunting into her ear, mine over and over again.
*Bound By Blood*
Caroline POV
I just laid there, still naked and sweaty, while Klaus had gotten up and now dug through his closet for something to wear. According to him, his siblings didn't have a habit of knocking.
I rolled over to my side, and used the sheet to cover up my chest as he strode back in the room, redressed in a pair of boxers and paint stained t-shirt, then walked towards the door.
"Where are you going?" He turned to look at me, opening the door.
"Listen." He said, pointing downward. Laughing. As he leaves the room, I rushed behind him, pulling on a shirt of his as I go.
"WHAT THE HELL?" I heard Klaus yell, standing at the doorway of Kol's room before falling to his knees with the pain of an aneurysm.
"BONNIE!" I cried out, rushing to Klaus's side; however Bonnie looks just as stunned as I did. Kol grinned with child-like delight with his hand up, controlling Klaus's pain. Bonnie smacked him on the side of the head, breaking his concentration. When he recovered, Klaus still limp on the ground; the younger brother got off the bed and stood over him.
"And that is for daggering me, big bro."
Kol looked different, somehow, though I only seen him a couple of hours previous. His eyes had a renewed light; similar to his old youthful light, but no longer beyond the light was there a broken pain. It had been sewn together, by the light radiating from his hand.
Klaus pulled himself up, and stared at his brother astonished.
"So that's what the ritual did." He finally said, regaining his calm demeanor. "How? You are technically still dead. Aren't you?"
Klaus sat down in an armchair in the "library" nook of the room, helping himself to a glass of bourbon in a crystalline decanter.
Kol walked over to sit in the chair opposite his brother, grabbing a glass and silver knife from the table. He slit his hand with no sound of pain, then holding it up for us to see it knit itself back together.
"Guess you're not the only Mikaelson hybrid anymore, brother." Klaus's mouth seemed to permanently gape open. I put my hand gently under his chin, shutting it. He just changed it to a childish pout.
The men sat and drank silently, as Bonnie slipped into the bathroom, still staring at each other. Kol, impishly, Klaus, in an expression of jealousy and joy.
"Did anything happen when you were under, dear brother?" Klaus asked with one eyebrow raised. Kol shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I know that you didn't get this idea to try and renew your powers all on your own. Pray tell, who planted this idea in your head?"
"Ayanna."
"Ah… Your companion in our human years… Tell me, wherever did she hide this particular spell?"
"In her grimorie, where else?"
"So what was the whole purpose of this? It wasn't just to indulge some whim." Kol paused for a moment. Looking at the man's eyes, he looked scared. He didn't know what it was. Suddenly, light came to his eyes.
"Well then, Ayanna is having fun planting pieces of information in my head."
*Bound By Blood*
Getting everyone here was another challenge altogether. Elijah and Katherine had been the first to walk through the doors, oddly clashing with our little quartet in pajamas in Elijah's ever formal suit and Katherine's party dress.
Stefan and Rebekah stumbled inside next, both a bit tipsy. And of course, Elena dragged in drop-dead drunk Damon.
"What in the hell is going on?" he slurred, as Elena pushed him onto a couch as Stefan crept up behind him with a bucket of water.
"Sober up, Damon." Stefan gleefully said, pouring the ice cold bucket. Damon gasped, his vampire face coming out as he snarls at his younger brother. Stefan shrugged, putting the bucket down behind the couch, and sitting down next to Rebekah. Damon accepted a blood bag from Elena.
"So, why did you ruin our night?" Katherine tossed her hair. Kol smirked at her, holding out his hand. Katherine grips her head with a cry.
Everyone stared at Kol, who smirked.
"Kol… How?" Rebekah's eyebrows were raised in…. jealousy.
"A fairy godmother." He drawled sarcastically, making "eyes" at Bonnie.
"Could someone please tell me why my serious drinking was interrupted? So Bonnie threw a couple of party tricks?" Damon challenged. Kol thrust his hand out and Damon crumbled.
"Ok, ok, calm down Gandalf." He grunted, getting back on the couch next to Elena.
"So what are we doing? A showcase, tell us what Ayanna told you." Klaus tapped his fingers impatiently. Kol got up, walked over to the large coffee table where a map of the world lay. He picked up a pen and began marking places on there. Klaus and I got up to join him and Bonnie, who clutched his arm. I began to notice a pattern.
"Battle sights? Explain." Klaus ordered. The rest of our ragtag group had joined us around the map. Kol set down the marker and pointed at Paris.
"Silas wasn't able to fully drop the Other Side. He needed Bonnie. Anyways, there's now… tears in it, places associated with blood. Where else would they go?"
"So why aren't there people spilling out of there?" Stefan asked, taking the marker to mark a couple more places.
"That's the other part. You need a spell to open it, and someone with a connection to the spirit. And I just happen to have both. Though, I'd rather do it somewhere in Europe. I managed to get a peek into the inner workings of our dear friend Silas's mind. He's a couple of hours out, eight at the most." I looked at Klaus in fear. He gave me a look. We were leaving. Now.
*Bound By Blood*
Klaus and I worked in tandem in the closet, shoving everything we could into trunks. He attempted to get as many of his art supplies and books in suitcases as he could, while he yelled at various different people on the phone. First it was Marcel, then the pilot, then some Frenchman, and then Marcel again.
I managed to put most of my closet in a couple of steamer trunks, plus all the jewelry here. I hadn't wanted to at first, but Klaus—being Klaus—had convinced me otherwise. Apparently, Queens need jewelry.
As the man in question was paying more attention to the tools of his hobbies, then his clothing, I pulled the dark leather suitcase out from under his suits to pack for him. Smiling to myself, I began to go through the things I assumed he needed, and the things he didn't. As I shut the case, I tried to grab our luggage to the door, but Klaus was already there, picking it up as though it weighed nothing.
"Don't over exert yourself, love." He sped off down the stairs with the case; I went through the smaller bag for the plane. Pajamas for both of us, check. Extra clothes, some for Klaus and some for me, check. Make-up, check. Magazines, check. Phone, check. Laptop, check. And at the very bottom, the few parenting books I had bought in the little time I had had to myself.
I didn't even notice him re-enter the room.
"Come on, Caroline." He said, taking the last trunk and motioning me to come along. I took one last look at the place before following him.
Trunks littered the entry way. Not just our own, but the rest of the family. Rebekah sat on one of them checking her nails, while Stefan leaning against her, tapping out something on his phone.
"Rebekah this can't be all your shit." Klaus said, kicking a couple of the trunks. Kol immediately rushed out with yet another trunk.
"Don't touch those!" He yelled at his brother.
"Damn Kol are all these grimories?" Klaus asked, throwing open one of them to view the old books. "Did you pack your whole bloody collection?"
"Only the best ones… You know I have thousands." Kol opened the case Klaus had kicked, checking each other the musty smelling books.
"And how do you expect us to take all these to the runway?" Elijah asked, carrying a pair of slim black suitcases into the foyer. Klaus gave him a look.
"The SUV, dumbass. Start living in this century." Klaus snorted and walked out to the garage. I slumped down on one of the cases, looking through my phone. I hovered over my mom's name in my contacts, contemplating if I should call her. But, she probably was working a night shift. And if she tried to call me back, I'd be thousands of feet in the air.
I settled on checking Facebook, looking through the "happy times" that everyone else back home was having. Matt had been crowned Prom King. I smiled wistfully at the picture, remembering that I had wanted, more than anything, to wear that crown just over a year ago. I still did. Except, I looked at those pictures, the girls with the joy in their eyes, the innocence, and I realized, I couldn't go back. Not like this. They still knew me as innocent Caroline, head cheerleader Caroline, not Vampire Caroline, and certainly Pregnant Caroline.
I didn't realize Bonnie had come up behind me.
"Care? We're leaving." She said gently. I swore, what was with everyone here treating me like a god-damn doll? I rolled my eyes at her, and stomped off to the circular drive where Klaus waited in the SUV. I look back on the house once, and smiled at the odd scene.
"See you in the air."
*Bound By Blood*
The jet black plane stood waiting on the barren runway. Klaus pulled up beside it, near a white flight of stairs leading into the depths. It was small, and defiantly private, noted by the gold-painted M1.
Klaus got out, smiling and shook hands with a capped man in a sleek black uniform. He motioned to the back of the car, and then walked back to my side of the SUV, opening the door for me and taking the bag at my feet.
"Come on Caroline." He said as the caravan of cars pulled up behind us. Gentlemanly, he took my hand, helping me up the stairs, though I clearly did not need it.
The interior screamed money, as everything that Klaus touched did. Paneled in oak, with freaking monogrammed wallpaper, it looked like a cross between the Star Trek command center and a Tony Stark technological baby. I couldn't decide what the table was in the middle, but it shined a soft blue light of a computer. The sides were paneled into compartments, closed off with those same faux oak doors as the rest of the cabin. Klaus opened the first one, pushing back the sectioning. Just a pair of seats, though they had an enormous amount of room at the front and at the back. He placed the suitcase down on the floor and turned the chair towards the center.
I sat down, as he busied himself at a bar in the back and just looked around at the rest of our little ragtag group. Choosing compartments, which were arranged in twos, went with the seemingly usual pairings. Klaus and I, Elijah and Katherine, Kol and Bonnie, Stefan and Rebekah, Damon and Elena. I really had no idea why we always paired up like this. Sexual partners? No, Damon had slept with nearly every one of the girls here, excluding Bonnie. Stefan had a good record too. We challenged each other, brought out the good in the evil, encouraged each other.
"So what's the plan?" Stefan asked dumping his bag in the compartment across from me.
"Don't ask me." Klaus came back with a bottle sitting down next to me and tapping the table that ran down the middle of the room.
"Kol, do you have the map?" He ordered and Bonnie rummaged around in their own bag, pulling out the map and laying it on the table. Klaus tapped it once, and then shoved it out of the way, a blue copy appearing on the screen.
"Here's what we've got." He said, starting to tap out things. "Silas is currently here" He put a red dot outside of New Orleans. "Found here, and temporarily was here." He placed two smaller red triangles on the Island and Mystic Falls. "Where did your cousin live, Bonnie?"
"Nashville" He places another dot there. "So he opened up the other side about here… Who can he bring back?" Elijah traced a line from Tennesse all the way to New Orleans. No battle sites.
"There are other places besides battle sites you know." Damon said. "Massacres, genocides, rebellions." He marked several on the map.
"So where are we going?" Kol asked, setting down his bourbon on the table and bending over it. "The bloodier the better."
"Why not try those disgusting trenches? They should be bloody enough." Klaus recommended. I felt the plane slowly roll, beginning take off, and I laid back, listening to the voices around me.
*Bound By Blood*
When I woke up, the lights glittered below. I looked around the rest of cabin sleepily. Klaus slept quickly beside me, his sketchbook softly pressed against his chest. I reached into the bag and pulled out a cashmere blanket, wrapping it around him and pulling his sketchbook away from his clutches. I examined it. It's brand-new, only about half-full. Mostly of me, though the striking family portrait on page five is my favorite. Only in black and white, it captures our family in one stroke. Rebekah definitely looking at the artist, Stefan by her side, his hand just raised in a drink of bourbon, while Elijah stared almost condescendingly at Klaus of course being the one who drew it, not pictured, Kol laughing about something, his eyes glinting at Bonnie, who giggled with him. Only half in the picture is me, blonde hair flying away from my face, which is set is a sort of queenly look that somehow made me actually look… beautiful. Klaus's hand rests on my stomach.
I was tempted to tear it out, keep it with my collection of pictures and drawing that now picture out my life. But, better to wait to ask the artist himself.
I dug around in the bag for the pajamas I brought, as I silently stepped over Klaus with them, careful not to wake the sleeping hybrid.
The bathroom wasn't like a normal airplane bathroom. For one, it was large, with fogged glass. I quickly slipped on Klaus's overlarge t-shirt and the pair of sweatpants. When I return to our compartment, Klaus is still asleep though I hear voices.
"What now, Katarina? After you retrieve the cure?" Elijah's soft formal voice lilted quietly in that special tone he saved only for Katherine. "Going to disappear again?"
"I only disappear in self-defense. I love you, Elijah." Katherine pleaded. I felt as though I was intruding on something secret, something that I shouldn't hear, though I couldn't turn away. Their relationship intrigued me.
"I cannot be swayed so easily." Elijah's voice was hard, much like Klaus's defense mechanism.
"I have wasted so much of my life, running. Elijah…"
"I have duties. My family…"
"It's time you stopped living your family adventures and start living your own."
"My family is my greatest adventure."
"Then let me join you. Please, Elijah. You saw what happened between Caroline and Klaus. You and I, all we've ever wanted is family."
Elijah exhaled, sounding like his head was in his hands. "What exactly do you want Katarina?"
"Our family." She said with finality, and I heard her get up, pushing the separator back.
Sighing, I snuggled into Klaus, closing my eyes, breathing in his scent. At night, in sleep, there was no worries, no Cure, no psychopath hunting us. Just our family.
*Bound By Blood*
"Oh hell." I muttered to myself, bolting over Klaus to get to the bathroom. At least I was thinking, though it was 6 AM, and ran to the one near the cockpit, leaving the larger one for the rest of our party.
Vomiting was not pleasant, especially at 23,000 feet. And on a dirty airplane floor, even though this was a private plane.
When I finished, I rinse my mouth, staring at myself in the mirror. I looked terrible, to say the least. Baby bump poking out, hair in a million different directions, and the dark bags under my eyes stretching on for ages, I tried to smile at my disappointing reflection. Trudging out, I tried to return to bed, not even thinking when I crawled over Klaus to return to my "spot."
"Caroline?" He said his British accent thicker than ever as he stared sleepily at me.
"Go back to sleep Klaus." I mumbled, setting my head gently on his chest. His arm went automatically around me, pulling me into him. I wanted to go back to sleep, his arms so comforting, so warm. However, as I try and fall back into the ocean of dreams, rays of light from the blocked window begin to come in. Burying my face further into Klaus's chest, I try and avoid them, though my stomach prohibits me from escaping them.
With a frustrated growl, I sat up, pushing back the blanket and pulling up the bag onto my lap. Klaus made a grunting sound, throwing a pillow over his eyes. I rolled mine, searching through the bag for my clothes and make-up bag. Victorious, I hold up the dress I had brought along with my Vera Bradley make-up bag. I smiled at Klaus as I slipped into the bathroom.
Though it was seven o'clock, everyone else slumbered on, as I wriggled into the lacey orange tunic I had brought, and quickly did my make-up. When I emerged, everyone of course is still asleep. I rolled my eyes.
"Alright, everybody up!" I said, as bright and chipper as I can manage. I mean come on; I was the pregnant one, the hormonal one, the I-got-up-at-6-puking one.
I heared simultaneous groans and growls from the populace of the cabin.
"Get off of me!" Bonnie shrieked from her compartment and a thump came moments later, spilling one sleepy Kol Mikaelson out into the aisle.
Damon made some comment into his pillow, as Katherine poked her head out and gave me the death glare through her less than perfect curls.
"Five more minutes" Klaus mumbled into his pillow as I gently shook him.
"Klaus…. No." I said in the nicest way possible. When he makes no move to get up, I pulled the blanket off of him, mistakenly taking the Original Hybrid to the ground as well to join his brother.
"Damn." He muttered, and then slowly started to get up though his younger brother refuses to move at all. Bonnie poked her head and regarded the man on the floor.
"Kol." She said, poking him rather hard in the back. He made a slight groan into the ground. Rebekah climbed out of her compartment, revealing a still sleeping Stefan, with a bag and purposefully walked to the back, stepping on Kol's back. He grunted, and then got up, giving his sister the death glare.
I began organizing as everyone began to get up, folding the sleeping thing away into the small cabinets in the front. As Klaus messed with the coffeemaker, I went through the bag, laying out a suit for him on his chair.
Elijah joined his brother at the bar, dressed in silk pajamas monogrammed with the signature "EM."
"When are we landing?" Damon asked irritably, pouring some sort of alcohol into his porcelain mug of coffee.
"Eleven for our current schedule, though Parisian time? Around Six." Klaus answered, staring out the window, then reaching down, as though remembering something, and opened the fridge, throwing me a blood bag.
I ripped off the top, and took it all in in just one drink. Did this baby make me hungrier? I walked over to the fridge and pull out another one.
"Hey, hey, hey cool it Blondie. The rest of us need to eat as well." Damon said. Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother.
"Eating for two, idiot." I spat in his face, downing the second blood bag. Klaus's eyes danced with mirth. Rebekah came out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of white jeans, wedges, and a blue top that make her blonde hair look whiter than ever, caught in a mermaid-ish braid. Elena, who I hadn't even notice get up, ran for the bathroom next.
I started trying to fix my hair in the laptop screen, though it's utterly impossible today, a wild mess of curls. Rebekah comes up behind me.
"Here." She said, taking my brush from me, running it through my hair and starting to braid, twist, pin it into something near manageable.
When she was done, I checked myself out in the laptop screen. Pretty, simple, a big bun at the top of my head with a small French braid running the crown.
"Thanks Bekah." I told her, giving her a grin. "Klaus come here." I held up his suit. He gave me a look, though he set down his coffee and came over. I shut the compartment door and took off his shirt for him, as he worked his way out of his pants. I helped him slip into the white dress shirt, while he put on the slacks, and I buttoned up his shirt.
"Tie or no tie?" I asked, holding up a dark navy one in one hand and an orange one to match my dress. He shook his head, pulling on the suit jacket, and walking out into the aisle again, raising up the table as he went.
He took something out of his jacket pocket throwing them on the table.
"Fake ID's? Really brother?" Elijah asked, picking up one and opening it. They looked pretty standard, the new dark blue of the passport shiny as the pages inside.
I pick up one of them. By sheer luck, it happens to mine, though it's only my face.
"Carolina Mykelson? Seriously Klaus, I thought artists were creative." Klaus's read Nik Mykelson, married to me no surprise. Elijah, Elias Mykelson, Kol, Klemens Mykelson, Rebekah, Rachel Mykelson. Surprisingly, he had had fakes made more the rest of us.
Elena and Katherine were ironically sisters, Elaine and Katya Petra.
Damon and Stefan still were siblings, Damien and Steven Saltorian.
Bonnie- Babette Benné.
Everyone grabbed theirs, flipping through it. Katherine gave a sound of disgust at the relation between her and Elena, stalking off to the bathroom with it.
I smiled to myself as I laid back in my seat pulling out one of my parenting books and began to read.
*Bound By Blood*
As we began to descend, I didn't even notice Klaus sit in the chair next to me.
"What are you reading love?" He asked, trying to look at the cover. I put it under the table, smiling nervously at him.
"Nothing." I said almost a little too hurriedly. He gave me a smirk, taking the book from my hands. He frowned at the cover.
"What to Expect when You're Expecting?" he said rather confused.
"It's a pregnancy book. There's a movie based on it." I giggled, snatching it back from him.
"Please don't tell me you're going to make me watch it…" He whined, pulling out his sketchbook.
"Do you know anything about babies? You might need to do just a bit of homework." I handed him one of the heavier books about children after birth. Quite frankly, he wasn't the one that needed to know what was going on inside of me right now. Baby steps…
He gave the book a completely confusing look then opened it with a determined one. I smiled turning back to mine.
*Bound By Blood*
The runway was sort of bare, with a long black limo waiting for us at the bottom of the steps. A chauffeur waited at the doors, and two men in what looked like customs officers uniforms stood impatiently at the bottom of the steps.
"Let me go first." Klaus stopped me with his hand, hurrying down the stairs. Amiably he shook the two officials' hands, chatting in French. I marched back into the cabin to get my stuff.
All of the guys in our "company" wore suits, all of them without ties except for of course Elijah.
"Come on." I said, picking up the bag. For the last hour, surprisingly, Klaus had just sat there and read. It had been a bit uncomfortable, with me glancing up every five seconds, waiting for him to get frustrated and just throw the book away, but he didn't. No, he wanted this. I guess somewhere, deep down, he wanted this baby, this family.
I walked back out onto the stairs where the chauffeur was already loading a second car with our sheer amount of luggage. Klaus was shaking hands with the immigration officials, and they walked off while he waved us over. As I jumped over, he took the bag, giving me a surprising kiss on the lips.
"Told you I'd take you to Paris one day, love." I giggled, meeting his lips again.
"Hey, cool it lovebirds." Kol yelled, slapping his brother on the back, pulling Bonnie along to the car. We break apart, still grinning at each other and head for the car.
*Bound By Blood*
I stared out at the window, staring at the landmarks. As we passed the glass pyramid of the Louvre, Kol and Rebekah were arguing over how late the shops of Champs d'Elyesses were open. When I caught the glimpse of the Arc d'Triompe, Katherine was again making snarky comments. Quickly, Elijah intervened before Klaus snapped her neck. I paid no attention to the arguments. After that little spat, Klaus resided to looking out the window with me, telling little bits about every corner. In every ally way, he had a story. Countless centuries of tales, adding color to the cobbled streets.
"We're here love." He whispered into my ear, as the chauffeur pulled into a courtyard of a grey stone building. It was old with classic looking glass windows set in three rows, though no clear doors on this side of the house, only a huge set of archaic double doors. They opened with a metal grill and came up as well, like that of a dungeon.
The courtyard was well lit, with old looking flame lamps and gray cobblestones, with black painted doors on each side, except for one that obviously contained the garage. It was surprising, to have such a large house in the heart of one of the most expensive cities on Earth, but then again, Klaus had probably seen the city's founding.
He helped me out of the car, motioning to the car behind us carrying our luggage to unload, and lead me to the door, opening it. The entire first floor is formal, the door opening into a small hall in between a receiving room and what looked like a formal parlor. I had studied enough about French society to know that this floor of the house would be the "entertaining" part of the home. The real personality must be in the upper floors.
He opened a panel in the dark wall, leading up a well-lit staircase that looked so unlike the other rooms, this staircase wasn't dusty and musty like those rooms.
When we reach the top, Klaus threw open the door with a flourish. I gasped, the twinkling lights of the city shining through the wall of glass facing out. Not too far in the distance, the familiar metal structure of the Eiffel Tower rose, light up like a Christmas tree.
He didn't even flick on the lights, just set our smaller bag down on one of the couches, letting me look out at the city. Coming up behind me, he wrapped his arms around my waist drawing me into him.
"I assume by your silence, that you enjoy the view." He whispered into my neck, gently rocking me back and front. I could hear commotion downstairs, the ever arguing of our dysfunctional circle of friends and family, the dropping of bags, the slamming of doors. But for this instance, it was just Klaus and I.
"You know, when you promised to take me here I thought you were joking. Now seeing it for real… It's a dream come true." I turned to face him, bringing my arms to loop around his neck. His breath catches as our blue eyes meet and I leaned in, standing on the tops of my toes to compensate for my shortness.
The kiss is sweet, no tongue, but only two pairs of lips pressing against each other. I stared up at him, his eyes closing leaning into me more, arms wrapping around my waist as mine hang on his neck. My stomach gets in the way of us meshing together totally, but in the same regard, it feels right.
Our family, all together.
Wow! Extra long chapter, but I hope all of y'all liked it!
Translation of Bonnie's Spell:
Spirits
Blessing be upon him, your blessing
My Blood
Restore the line broken
Unlock the gift
Power equal to that which exists already in this realm
Unlock the gift
Equal to Silas
Unlock
Counterbalance
Light for Darkness
Magic lost, found again
Unlock the gift
Unlock his magic
Please, please, please review, honestly it's my lifeblood!