Enjoy!
Chapter 26
They stared at one another in crippling silence. Each felt it, but neither seemed capable of ending it. Klaus hadn't expected K to actually answer the door. He thought at first he wanted her to. He'd gone to her home with something specific to say, but now the words seemed just out of reach. K simply couldn't believe he had the balls to show up ever.
"What do you want?" she muttered. Her voice didn't have the strength she wanted it to.
"May I come in?"
She didn't immediately reply.
"I don't know." She answered after a moment.
Klaus flinched mildly, but should have expected as much. Instead of being angry or trying to compel her otherwise, he remained on the doorstep. His eyes instinctively danced over her. His heart dropped when he noticed every bit of her jewelry was gone. All of it. Every hint of him had disappeared.
"Why are you here?" she asked again.
"I don't know." He said honestly.
The silence began to move in again. Seeing him again and being so close filled K with feelings she hadn't come to terms with since their fight. She was glad to see him and hated the fact. He made her skin crawl, but her stomach flutter. Everything about Klaus was making her uncomfortable.
He wasn't fairing much better in comparison. He felt the same, but with a resounding sadness for what he'd done to her.
"Goodbye, Klaus." She said when nothing happened.
K began to close the door and forced Klaus to find his words.
"Are you coming for Christmas?"
The door was nearly closed. K hesitated. She opened it once again to speak to him.
"I am." She nodded. It was clear she was trying to remain cold, but it was difficult. Klaus found it just as difficult to move the conversation along. He'd never had to struggle so hard before.
"Good." He nodded. "We've erected a tree in the Great Hall for the event." K cocked a single brow. He made it sound like it was some kind of formal banquet. "It is a time for family to be together."
She nodded softly. Again, K didn't know what else he wanted. The conversation was now becoming painfully awkward.
As he stared at her, Klaus could tell K wanted nothing more than to go back inside and close the door. He couldn't blame her and knew he had seconds at best to relay something of importance. If he had anything to say, Klaus knew he had to say it quickly.
"Come home, Kali." He said softly. Klaus was amazed the words escaped at all.
"I am home." She told him. Klaus felt as though she had taken hold of his heart again and squeezed violently. "Good afternoon, Klaus."
She closed the door again. He didn't stop her this time. Instead, Klaus vanished before the door even latched.
Her heart jerked and she felt physically ill. K didn't like being cold, but for the life of her she still didn't know what to do with him. She knew the only way for her to finally understand everything was to speak with Klaus, to actually talk to him, but she wasn't ready for it yet. Maybe soon, just not yet.
~!~
Savior
Season 3, Episode 9
"Well I would never harm you," Rebekah snapped angrily. She was glad to be free of her prison, but her anger hadn't seemed to subside just yet. "You killed half the navy rescuing me. Freya hates traitors." She winced in pain and scratched her forearm viciously.
"Yes Freya," he sighed softly. "Let's not forget her allegiance to Finn. I do want to trust her, but…"
He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.
"So that leaves Nik." Rebekah said. "Do you think he's learned his lesson, about backstabbing his family?"
Elijah shrugged lightly.
"Something Kali told me was interesting in regards to Niklaus' part in this prophecy."
"Oh I'm sure." She didn't know where the biting comment had come for, only that she said it.
"She said she didn't think Niklaus would be the one to fell family."
"Well of course that's what she thinks." Rebekah declared. "She's so bloody in love with him, of course she can't help but see the best."
"She said," he faced her. "That she feared he would finally hurt one of us so grievously, we would be the ones to turn, and he would be the one to fall to family. Not either of us."
Rebekah had been holding her arm again, trying not to scratch and failing when Elijah spoke. His words forced her to stop as they sank in. The same startling realization that struck Elijah when K told him her fears soon washed through Rebekah.
"She isn't wrong." She said. Elijah turned to place the gasoline nozzle back into its holder when Rebekah's features darkened. "Do you ever want to just rip out his heart and see if it grows back?"
The shocking comment forced Elijah to spin on his heel. He saw her bloodshot eyes and fangs glinting a second before they disappeared and she cried out in pain.
Finally having enough, she pulled back her sleeve to reveal what caused her so much agony. It was a blistering scar in the shape of a skull, an ominous sign.
~!~
"You really didn't have to do that." Hayley said as she spoke with K on the phone.
"Maybe," she said as she parked. "Maybe not, but it happened regardless."
Hayley for some reason couldn't believe K had bought Hope Christmas presents. While part of her might have expected it deep down, she was still surprised the other vampire had gone out and spent money on the child. Then again, K gave her and Jackson over 3/4 of a million dollars as a wedding present...
"Well, thank you." She said kindly.
"You're welcome. Look, I have to go. I'll talk to you later."
"Yeah, bye."
K hung up and slipped out of the car. She popped her trunk and immediately wrapped her arms around some of the gifts to take them inside.
She wove through the manor towards the room Klaus had told her the tree would be. She began to set things down, organize them amongst the presents already resting at the base of the tree, and again felt her heart sink. The house was beautiful. It was better than beautiful. It was incredible.
K looked around at every twinkling light and green garland, at every brilliant gold ribbon with a flash of red and loved it. It had been centuries since she spent a Christmas with the Mikaelsons and this one was no less glamorous. It brought out a twinge of pain though, at the memory of a happier time.
"I got your text, what's wrong?" K heard Hayley say in the other room.
She spun on her heel and felt her brows come together. Hayley wasn't supposed to be here. K immediately jogged into the courtyard where she found Hayley feeding Freya her blood while Jackson stood close by.
"Kali," he seemed shocked to see her. "What are you doing here?"
"Dropping off gifts." She said in the same tone of confusion. She looked at Freya. "What happened?"
"She was attacked." Jackson said.
"Strix." Freya growled. She began untangling her arm from the sling Jackson had fashioned for her. "I was speaking with a witch who was a blood descendant of the one who made the medallion to see if it could be destroyed. It can't. It has to be used. We have to get it back and lock something else away, anything but my family."
"Great." Hayley sighed sarcastically. "Well why don't we pay Tristan a visit and ask him really, really nicely."
It was clear she was threatening him and the three gathered were more than willing to inflict harm.
Elijah soon appeared. No one heard him coming and was surprised to see him so soon after leaving. He'd only just left the night before to find Rebekah.
"I'm afraid we have a more urgent matter." He told them darkly.
"To be fair," a familiar voice chimed a moment before the source emerged. Rebekah smiled. "I am the prettiest urgent matter."
Faint and relieved smiles passed between those gathered who actually knew and liked Rebekah. Honestly, Elijah and Jackson were the only ones who weren't.
"Rebekah," K sighed with a smile. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the blond. Rebekah returned the hug, but couldn't wipe the surprise from her face. "I'm glad you're alright."
"And you've…" they parted and Rebekah continued to eye her. "Changed."
K shrugged a single shoulder.
"It's a long story."
"Is it?" Rebekah raised a single brow. She was still close enough to notice K was without every hint of jewelry she'd always worn. "It appears quite a bit's happened since I left."
"Yes," Elijah nodded shortly. While 'K's haircut' and her breakup with Klaus might seem like noteworthy change, he had more pressing concerns. "This," he removed the stake from within his jacket and handed it to Freya. "Is what they used."
"And this is the lovely side effect." Rebekah presented her arm to her sister. The blistering mark held more of Freya's attention than the stake. She set the chunk of wood down and held Rebekah's arm tenderly. "Give it to me straight, doc." She sighed.
"The stake was cursed." Freya said heavily. "It's infected you. As this mark grows, you'll become mad. Eventually, you'll become a relentless, unstoppable Ripper."
"Aya always was thorough." She admitted bitterly.
"The Strix always employ a safeguard." Elijah said. "In the event we recovered your body, you were cursed. You see, one is easy to find when on a killing rampage. Can you fix this?"
"The spell is carved here." Freya was again staring at the stake. "I can reverse it…" her breath was becoming short. "I just need some time and… a hell of a lot of magic."
Almost the same instant she stood, Freya collapsed into Elijah's arms. He spotted a mark when her hair fell out of the way. She'd been poisoned and being the only human amongst them, it was meant to kill her not slow her down.
"How are you feeling?" Hayley asked when she noticed Freya's eyes begin to open.
"Weak." She sighed.
"The Strix are fans of the slow acting poison." Elijah said as he dug into his pocket for his phone. "There is a cure. All we need to do is find it."
He excused himself to make his call.
"For this," she tenderly touched Rebekah's arm. "I'll need a pure silver knife and some white muskurn."
"I'll get the knife." Hayley said.
"And I'll find the herb." Jackson nodded before leaving.
"And I," Freya sounded so tired. She dipped down and grabbed the stake before standing. "Am going to channel Finn."
"Oh great," Rebekah didn't hide her sarcasm. "My fate depends on our black sheep of a brother helping us. Wonderful."
"He's the only other powerful witch around, so he's our only hope."
"I'm coming with you." K said as she stepped closer to the witch. Freya eyed her. "You're too weak to be on your own right now."
She didn't want to agree, but Freya knew she was weak. With a light nod, the two headed upstairs so the witch could work.
K followed her into the room Freya had called home for months. It looked like a witch's haven with herbs, curios and candles everywhere. Freya knelt at her table and strung the necklace off her shoulders. She gripped the pendant in one hand and the stake in the other. She was about to begin when she remembered something. Her eyes slowly shifted to the vampire in the corner near the door.
"You know I have to summon Finn for this."
"I do." K nodded. Freya wasn't going to outwardly ask permission she didn't need, but she wanted to be sure K was completely aware of what was going to happen. "It's fine."
Freya nodded. She closed her eyes and began to chant. Almost immediately blood poured from her eyes. K had never seen anything like it before and it made her insides jump. She perked and pushed herself away from the wall. Her steps were measured and slow, but she moved closer to Freya regardless.
"Finn," she suddenly gasped. The name caused K to hesitate, even more so when Freya seemed to be looking at someone. "It is." She continued her one-sided conversation. "It has to be."
Freya closed her eyes and again began to chant. K's brows were pulled together tightly. Whatever was happening was beginning to have adverse affects on the witch.
"Freya," she said softly.
"I'm fine!" Freya snapped, halting K's advance. She continued chanting.
"You're not fine." She said. K heard someone and looked up to see Elijah charging into the room. "Elijah,"
"Freya, you need to stop." He hurried to her side.
"Don't touch me!" Freya said angrily. "You can't stop me."
"We must save Rebekah," Elijah said as he peeled off his jacket and pulled up his sleeve. "But not at the expense of you."
"Help me, or get out!"
Elijah bit into his arm and fed her his blood. She was chanting erratically and doing her best to remain strong, but even injecting blood from Elijah didn't help.
"I can't," she shook. "I can't focus."
Jackson barged into the room with his knife in his hands.
"Jesus," K muttered. She'd knelt down beside the witch. "She's burning up."
"I guess a hospital is out of the question?" Jackson snapped.
"Hospitals wouldn't know how to help her." Elijah replied.
"She'd die while they're trying to figure out what it is." K said tersely. "Water,"
Jackson grabbed the glass just as Freya vomited blood. He reached for a cloth too. K was just doing her best to make sure Freya didn't fall over or faint since she seemed too stupid to stop.
A loud banging crash and screams echoed in the distance. Elijah told the two to remain with Freya while he investigated.
Jackson took Freya's other side. He dipped the rag into the cool water to wipe the blood from Freya's mouth, but K shook her head.
"Base of the neck." She told him. Taking her long sleeve, K did her best to wipe the dripping blood from Freya's chin.
Freya wanted to push them back, but hated that she seemed to need their help. The cool rag at the back of her neck helped a bit, but the poison still raged within her and every time K tried to wipe away blood, Freya would spit it back up. It was a never ending cycle.
An ear piercing scream sounded loudly over Freya's chants. Jackson and K's attention immediately shot to the door.
"Hayley," K breathed.
"Go." Jackson snapped. "I've got Freya, go."
K vanished an instant later.
She emerged in the courtyard the same instant Klaus did. Seeing him temporarily stunned her just long enough she hesitated and hesitating was dangerous with a psychotic vampire.
"Every woman you and Elijah bring into this family turns to poison." Rebekah hissed. "They all grow toxic."
She shoved him off of her. Klaus stumbled back in shock as to what his sister had become. He joined Elijah and K's sides.
"Tell me about it." K sighed.
"Awe," Rebekah swooned in a mock caring voice. "It's Klaus' little slave. What'd you do this time, brother? It must have been awful if the girl you paid for doesn't even love you anymore."
"Wow," K said with a hint of surprise. "How long have you been holding that one in?"
Rebekah screamed a warrior cry and launched herself after the three of them. Klaus and Elijah immediately hooked their arms around her, lifted Rebekah into the air and slammed her down onto the table.
She writhed and screamed as she struggled against her brothers, but Klaus and Elijah held strong. They had no choice but to restrain her after she'd already proven to be passed the moment of caring.
"K, hold her arm." Freya demanded as she emerged from the background.
K joined Freya at the blistered mark. She snatched Rebekah's arm. It had been flailing and trying to rip at Elijah, but K held firmly. Freya moved in with the knife and –to their disgust- began to peel Rebekah's arm like it was a piece of fruit.
The instant the piece of cursed flesh was gone, Rebekah stilled. Tentatively, the three holding her let go and slowly began to move away. They kept a sharp eye on Rebekah in case she was feigning sanity again.
"Well," she sighed. "That was annoying."
Slow smiles began to spread across the lips of those gathered.
"Come on," K stepped forward and offered her hand. Rebekah took it. "Let's get you something to eat and cleaned up." With K's help, Rebekah jumped lightly off the table. "You look like shit."
Rebekah's response was quick. She punched K's arm.
"Ow!" K snapped with an underlining laugh. She held her bicep. "I think you broke my arm."
"It's only a hairline fracture." Rebekah replied innocently.
Smiling, the two slipped into the manor and towards the kitchen to grab a bag of blood. K assumed Rebekah might need it after not only being desiccated, but the taxing time away.
"So," K dipped into the fridge and pulled out a bag. "How was the Gulf?"
Rebekah glared at her as she caught the bag of blood.
"I'm more interested in where your makeover came from."
K shrugged her shoulder and leaned against the island while Rebekah popped open the blood bag.
"It's a long story that I don't feel like getting in to right now."
Rebekah rolled her eyes as she ate. She'd get the truth eventually, but they were all a little too tired to fight right now.