Chapter 24 – Losing Hope
Klaus sighed as Stefan and Damon finally left the mansion, all day with these people had brought him to the edge of his temper and if Caroline hadn't been there to keep him in check, the town's vampire population would have been down one dark haired Salvatore. His annoyance didn't stop him from noticing that there was something off with his brothers and his girl. They kept giving each other sideways glances and little smiles. He knew enough though to wait until there was only family left in the house.
Klaus listened in as Caroline escorted Bonnie out, "I know we still have a lot to about Care, and I promise we will soon."
"We do have a lot to talk about." Caroline agreed, and lowered a voice a bit, "Like what is going on with you and Kol?"
Klaus couldn't see them, but was sure Bonnie blushed, "I don't know what you are talking about." Bonnie replied quietly, "I'll see you in the morning to try the spell again."
"Yep, see you then." Caroline responded, and Klaus heard the door shut a few seconds later.
"And what makes you think that she is doing something with Kol?" Klaus asked as she walked into the room, moving to sit in his lap.
"I can be perceptive when I want to." She teased and leaned forward, giving him a long kiss before they were interrupted.
"You two have a room for that." Rebekah commented, sinking into the couch.
Kol and Elijah followed close behind her, Kol flopped down next to his sister, but Elijah remained standing and leaned against the back of an empty chair.
Klaus shifted his eyes between his siblings before letting them rest on Elijah, "Wish to tell me what is going on now brother?" He felt Caroline tense in his arms, and noticed that Kol looked less relaxed as well.
Elijah took a deep breath before looking carefully at Klaus, "It seems that there is more to this situation than everyone else is aware of." He said vaguely, and shifted his eyes to Rebekah before looking at an object of the other side of the room, "I don't know if you were aware or not, but Elena and I were having an affair for nearly a month while we were still human."
Klaus put on a smirk, he had thought something was going on between them, but truthfully he hadn't really paid too close attention. Rebekah looked slightly more shocked, "Why did you keep it a secret, we all would have approved."
"That doesn't matter now." Elijah replied, "What does matter is…." He paused, not really sure how to say the next part, so he decided to just be blunt, "Elena is pregnant."
Klaus' smirk fell and his eyes grew wide, "She's what?"
"Are you sure?" Rebekah asked, her face going from shock to joy in a matter of seconds.
"Elena took the test this morning." Caroline replied, "She is sure."
"Why are you telling us this?" Klaus questioned, thinking this was an odd conversation to be having, especially without Elena actually present.
"We thought that Elijah should know, we don't know how long it is going to take to find Elena. But the sooner the better because who knows what Mother will do to her once she finds out about the baby." Kol answered, thinking it was a lot less selfless than he just didn't want to keep it a secret anymore.
"We need to get to Elena, and quickly." Rebekah replied, her hands nervelessly moving on her lap, "Mother will never let that baby go if she gets her hands on it."
"That is easier said than done. Bonnie had no luck with her spell, my hybrids have had no luck for weeks before that. Why should we suddenly have some luck now?" Klaus informed them, deciding to be the pessimistic one here.
"Because we need to." Elijah whispered, his eyes drifting between all the people in the room, between his family.
Three Weeks Later
Bonnie let out a defeated sigh as she pushed herself away from the coffee table, shaking her head in anger as her magic blew out the candles in front of her.
"I think we need to try something else." Caroline said from her spot in a chair nearby, her fingers twisting some strands of her hair in her nerves.
"I know Care, I just don't know what else to try. That was the last locator spell I had." Bonnie said, getting up from the floor and stretching her legs.
"Kol and Rebekah don't have any others?" Caroline asked, watching her friend rotate her shoulders.
"Already tried all of theirs too, I don't know what else to do Care. It's been weeks and we have had zero leads." Bonnie sighed, her voice defeated as she fell into one of the many armchairs scattered around the room, placing her head in her hands.
"It isn't your fault Bon. We all know that Esther is strong, hell she created vampires, it is safe to assume that she can hide herself well." Caroline tried to comfort her friend.
"How are we going to find her Care, if not through magic?" Bonnie asked, her eyes locking with the vampire across from her.
"We are just going to have faith in regular ways I guess." Caroline suggested, using a shoulder shrug to convey her thoughts better.
"Right you are love." Klaus said as he walked into the room, Kol was close behind his brother, "We are looking everywhere within 50 miles, but it is taking time."
"Why 50 miles?" Bonnie asked as Kol sat in the chair next to her, she had to force herself not to look at him.
Klaus leaned against the side of the chair Caroline was sitting in, his hand finding a way to hers before answering, "She would have needed to relatively close at the time of the spell to be able to channel her power. Plus Elena was taken in less than 24 hours of her return, I say that means that my mother is somewhere near Mystic Falls."
Before Bonnie could question any further Klaus' phone went off, he answered it quickly, "Nate, any word?" He asked, and walked back out of the room.
Caroline turned to look at the pair across from her, with all of the Elena searching for Elena she had yet to have an opportunity to talk to either of them. She put a sly smile on her face and said, "So, how long as this been going on for?" Her smile turned into a full on smirk as she saw them both suddenly tense, "And don't even try to pretend there isn't something going on."
Kol evaded the question, "Wipe that look off of your face Care, you shouldn't let Nik influence you so much."
Caroline just rolled her eyes and looked at Bonnie, just letting her blue eyes stare down the witch.
Bonnie sighed, "It started a few days before you got back."
"I knew something was going on!" Caroline said with joy jumping to her feet in the process, a satisfied smile on her face.
Bonnie looked at Kol before back at her blonde friend, "I thought you said you already knew?"
"I was just guessing." Caroline admitted with a guilty smile, "How ser…."
"We have a problem." Klaus interrupted her, looking between the three people in the room with concern, "Time to assemble the group."
Rebekah looked around the room with interest, she had never been in his house before and she was curious to see what kind of things it held, or at least the living room. From what she could see it was not what she was expecting for a 18 year old boy who lived by himself. She decided that he probably hadn't changed much since he was left to his own devices. There were still family photos lining the walls and it was relatively cleaned up for a bachelor pad.
"Well, what do you think?" Matt asked as he joined her on the couch, placing two glasses on the table.
"Not what I was expecting." Rebekah replied honestly, smiling shyly as she looked at the boy next to her.
"Is that a good or a bad thing?" He asked, with quirk of his eyebrows.
"A good thing." Rebekah assured him with a laugh. She hitched her breath as he leaned in and she closed her eyes as his lips meet hers. The kiss was short, tentative, sweet, and leaving her wanting more. She whispered as he pulled away, "And that was even better."
Matt just smiled in return and retook her lips. This time though Rebekah took a bit more control and pushed Matt back against the couch, climbing onto his lap in the process. Matt's hand began to travel up her lower back, hitching up her shirt so his hands were against her bare skin.
Rebekah was enjoying the feeling of his hands so much she almost didn't hear it when her phone started to ring. She let out a frustrated huff as the ringing stopped and then began again. When Matt's own phone joined in the noise, she heard him say, "Well that cannot mean anything good."
Elijah was still unsure if this was a good idea, but it was too late to turn back now. Elena had been gone for three weeks now, and the odds of them finding her anytime soon were not looking good.
"Have you found her yet?" Jeremy asked as he opened the door, not bothering with any greetings.
"No, but there are a few things I would like to talk to you about. May I come in?" Elijah asked, still trying to pin down what exactly he was going to say to the young boy.
"I guess so, got nothing else to do." He said and turned from the door, leaving it open for Elijah to enter.
Elijah closed the door behind him and followed Jeremy into the kitchen, "How are you holding up?"
"You mean, how I am doing living by myself when both my sister and guardian have been kidnapped by a crazy, thousand year old witch? Oh, I am doing great." Jeremy answered sarcastically as he started spreading some peanut butter on a slice of bread.
Elijah sighed, "I know this might not make much sense to you Jeremy, but if you ever need me for whatever reason, you can call me."
Jeremy stopped the movement of his knife and looked Elijah over critically before saying, "And why would you say that? What am I not being told?"
"Jeremy, when your sister was in the past, her and I….developed a relationship. A relationship that we both wish to continue in the here and now. And I feel that it will be easier on everyone if you are okay with it when we find Elena and bring her home. You are the most important person in Elena's life Jeremy, and I want to make sure that you and I aren't going to have any problems."
Jeremy didn't speak as he processed everything that Elijah just said. Elijah could see the gears turning in the young man's head and wished he had something else to say, but he really didn't. He had decided that no one else should know about the baby until absolutely necessary.
The silence was broken when Elijah's phone started to ring, he pulled it from his pocket and sighed as Klaus' name came across the screen, "What can I do for you brother?"
"You need to come home now, and bring Jeremy with you, he will want to hear this." Klaus replied, his voice leaving no doubt in Elijah's mind that whatever it is was not good.
"We are on our way." Elijah responded, hanging up the phone and looking over at Jeremy, "There has been a development."
Stefan took a nice long drink from his glass of scotch, enjoying the burn of the liquid as it flowed down his throat. The bottle on the table was nearly empty and he was considering getting another when he saw a hand take said bottle away.
"Not offering to share brother? That seems a bit rude." Damon said in his classic, smart ass way, and drank the rest of it straight from the bottle.
"Well, go get some more if you are going to stay." Stefan replied, as he finished off his glass.
"Already ahead of you Stef." Damon responded, pulling a bottle of tequila from behind his back. He poured some of it into Stefan's now empty glass and decided that he would just drink it straight from the bottle, "Ready to come up with a plan?"
Stefan looked at his brother carefully as he took a seat across from him, "A plan for what? We are already having zero luck finding either Elena or Alaric."
"No, we are letting the Originals have zero luck finding them. I say it is time we take matters into our own hands and look for them ourselves, screw the Originals." Damon told his little brother, "Then we will be the heroes."
"Is that what you want, to be the hero?" Stefan asked, studying his brother carefully, "Are you trying to win Elena?"
"Alaric is my best friend Stefan, let's not forget that. But yes, maybe if Elena can see me as a hero, she will get over this stupid thing of picking Elijah over us." Damon admitted, taking another drink from his bottle.
"Why can you just not accept that Elijah is who Elena wants?" Stefan asked, not really wanting to dwell on this any longer, but he couldn't just leave knowing that Elena was in danger.
"Because it makes no logical sense Stefan, that is why." Damon replied, "Now, are you sticking with the Originals or coming with me?"
Stefan felt his phone start to vibrate and took it out of his pocket before he looked to Damon, "Caroline is calling me." He replied and put the phone to his ear, it wasn't a long conversation, "She says we are needed at the mansion, one of Klaus' hybrids found something."
"Guess we will finish this conversation later then." Damon said, taken a long drink before plopping the body down on the table, "Let's go see what they found."
Elena felt her stomach lurch, she quickly got up from the bed, dropping the book that she had been reading. She ran to the door, pounding on it frantically, "Esther, I need the bathroom!" She paused a few minutes but heard no sounds, "Please, I think I'm going to be sick, I need the bathroom."
Elena heard the hurried footsteps and took a step back, as the door swung open Elena lunged through it. The bathroom was luckily the room directly across from hers in the small house. She reached her destination just in time. Elena could sense Esther watching her from the doorway and felt the elder woman shift. She was surprised to hear the sink turn on but was too focused on her task to turn and see what she was up to.
Elena took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall as she felt her stomach start to settle. A damp rag was suddenly in front of her, "Here, put this on your forehead, it will help."
"Thank you." Elena whispered and took the cloth, pressing it against her head. Her breathing was more rapid than usual, and she knew it was a combination of her sickness and anxiousness.
Esther was watching the young girl on the floor carefully, not sure what to think. This was not the first time that Elena had been ill since she had been brought here, but she was showing no other signs of an illness. Also there were subtle changes in her appearance that Esther was noticing. It wasn't until she saw Elena unconsciously rub her hand protectively over her stomach that it all clicked in her head.
Esther felt her smile grow and she knelt next to Elena, "How far along are you Elena?"
Elena gulped, she felt her heart start to race even more, "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Let us not play this game Elena." Esther said, shifting slightly as she looked at Elena, "I have had seven children, I think it is safe to say I know the signs. Now, I will ask again, how far along are you?"
"About eight weeks." She whispered, she was just assuming that she had gotten pregnant early on in their affair for her to have been getting signs before they left the past.
Esther just smiled, "Well, this changes a few things."
Elena sat up a bit straighter, "What are you going to do?" She asked, not even trying to hide her fear from the older woman.
"Oh, don't worry my dear. No harm will befall you or my grandchild." Esther assured her, getting to her feet and holding out a hand to the young woman in front of her, "Come now, let's get you cleaned up."
Esther smiled as she joined Alaric out on the porch of her secluded little hideaway, she was easily the happiest she had been in months.
"You seem excited. I doubt it is all because of the full moon tomorrow." He inquired, sick of being kept like a caged animal in this house with the witch. He still didn't understand why he couldn't have just kept an eye on the girl back at their own house until tomorrow night.
"Elena is pregnant my dear Alaric." Esther replied her smile growing.
"Will that hurt our plan for tomorrow?" He asked, not seeing how Elena being with child was such a joyous thing if it interrupted their long thought out plan.
"Yes, it does create a slight problem, but it also allows for a whole new plan to unfold." She answered, and looked over at the man next to her, "We will just need a new human to connect your life force to. That will not be too much of a problem, there is always Jeremy or that Matt fellow, whichever is easier to get a hold of. I am sure my children will not want to harm either."
"What is you new plan then, for Elena?" Alaric asked, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy about all he was involved in, but he shook that part of his personality aside, ridding the world of vampire was all that was mattered.
Esther glanced off into the distance before answering, the smile on her face somehow getting larger, "It is time for a resurrection."
AN: As promised, you didn't have to wait a week. I hope it was good. I just wanted to give a little bit of perspective on every character and where they were in their thoughts before the real drama began. Also, thank you all for your help with my baby problem, I still haven't decided, but I still don't need to yet. I already have a name picked out for either gender, so the really hard part is out of the way.
Thanks for all your wonderful comments and please keep it up. Reviews are a great way for me to make sure I am not taking this story somewhere that people hate.