Chapter 28: Dreams
Elijah stood in the upstairs parlor room waiting for his brother to join him. There were things to discuss, the full moon was fast approaching and they were short a werewolf for the ritual. Elijah of course didn't approve of the creation of Hybrids, but he knew they would never succeed without them.
He was worried that Klaus was losing sight of the plan though. For the past few days he seemed preoccupied with his two captures in the cellar and Elena. There were times when Elijah caught him gazing at her in a way that revealed his humanity; that he still had feelings and cared about something other than himself, but he was worried that this distraction would be an unwelcome one. At least they already had the witch and the vampire for the ritual in captivity.
"Brother!" Klaus called out, catching Elijah's attention. "What's the big rush for this impromptu meeting, hm?"
Elijah fixed his steady gaze on his younger brother. "I feel you're losing sight of what's important, Nicklaus. The full moon is in less than two weeks and we don't yet have our werewolf."
Klaus waved a dismissive hand. "Not to worry, Elijah…I have someone on the way with the werewolf as we speak. He should be here by night fall." Klaus turned back towards the door to leave thinking their conversation was over.
"And what of the girl?" the older Original continued. "I hope you haven't lost sight of her role in all this." Her blood was needed to break the curse, but with the way Klaus had been regarding her recently, he wasn't sure if Klaus would be prepared to cross that line.
Klaus stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly. "I have been waiting to break this curse for over five hundred years, brother…I haven't forgotten the doppelganger's role, I assure you." He grumbled bitterly. He had waited for Katherine to appear to break the curse but she was smart and turned herself before he could use her. She repaid her debt to him by turning the Salvatore brothers centuries later. But this time he knew he needn't worry. The doppelganger would help him willingly…because she loved him.
…
Klaus headed down to the cellar to give the witch everything needed for the spell. He watched her quietly as she set herself up.
"Can you open the coffin?" she asked demurely, not really wanting to see the body inside.
Klaus glared at her sharply. "No."
Bonnie sighed. "I need to be close to her in order to make a connection." She stated in way of explanation.
Klaus grabbed her had roughly and placed it on the ancient coffin. "She's been in it for the last thousand years, I'd say that's close enough." He was starting to get impatient. Elijah was questioning him and he needed this done before he was found out and stopped. "Get it done." He let go of her hand and strode back out of the cellar.
…
It was the middle of the night by the time Stefan arrived in Mississippi. He parked his Lincoln in the driveway and hopped out with an air of confidence. It was so easy to find the kid, and even easier to provoke him into killing someone. Stefan didn't know the guy very well, but he was sure that a douche jock like him deserved this fate. Unlocking the door for the backseat, Stefan hauled the drugged body over his shoulder, letting the boy's head bounce off his back, and headed up the front steps.
He was pretty proud of himself for pulling this off so expertly. He slipped quietly through the front door and sped through the mansion to the cellar that Klaus had directed him to over the phone earlier. He walked down the steps and stopped at the solid stone door, using his foot to knock and announce his presence. It took only moments for Maxim to answer it, with amused surprise.
"Well, well…if it ain't the Ripper himself, and you brought dinner." He stated eying the body slung over Stefan's shoulder.
"Not dinner…" Stefan moved passed Maxim and observed Bonnie and Caroline farther in the dark cellar, only lit by candles, with a satisfied smirk. Neither of them seemed to notice him; Caroline was nearly passed out from the vervain and hunger, and Bonnie was focused on her spell. "Hello ladies." He announced self-righteously.
Caroline snapped to attention at the familiar voice. "Stefan, thank God!"
Bonnie chimed in. "Please, help us."
The vampire couldn't help but chuckle. "I though you could use someone to keep you company." He let the body hit the floor with a resounding thud and waited for realization to cloud their features.
Bonnie gasped and Caroline frown in utter confusion before her eyes widened in disbelief. "Tyler?"
…
Elena woke up in the morning with a strange feeling in her gut. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand and it read 4:33am. She crawled out of bed, mindful not to wake up Damon and snuck down the hall intent on getting a glass of water from the kitchen downstairs. It was when she got to the staircase that she changed direction. She wandered to the first step of the spiral staircase going up to the fourth floor. She hadn't been allowed up there before but for some reason she had an urge to break the rule.
She placed her hand on the wooden railing and trailed it up as she continued upwards slowly and quietly. Her heart pounded in her chest, but it felt good, like it was setting a melodic rhythm of soothing sound. Without missing a beat she turned left and headed to the door at the end of the hall.
Her heart pounded harder as she stopped in front of the solid oak barrier. Elena hesitantly placed her hand on the doorknob.
"Elena?"
She whipped around startled both by her name and the familiar voice. "Stefan?" she whispered in disbelief and a little relief.
He smiled calmly and reassuringly. "What are you doing outside Klaus' room?" he asked with a concerned frown.
Elena had too many questions in her head. Stefan was here? Why was he here? And when did he get here? She darted a glance back at the door and frowned in confusion. "I-I don't know…this is Klaus' room?" How did he know that?
Stefan nodded and held out a hand to me to take. He seemed to see the questions on her face. "Come on, I'll explain everything." He led her back downstairs to the kitchen and busied himself making tea for the two of them.
"What are you doing here, Stefan?"
Stefan sighed and put on his ever famous broody face. "I was trying really hard to get better, get over Katherine…try and move on." He swallowed painfully. "And then I bumped into this vampire in Texas that told me all these stories; Brothers from a direct descendent of the Original vampire lineage, coming together to form an army…" he trailed off with a resigned sigh. "I realized that I was being enlisted," he joked half-hearted and bitterly. "and I ran…but it didn't take long for him to catch up with me. I got Damon's text to check on Jeremy and on my way out of town I was brought back here." He lied seamlessly to his ex-love with no shame.
"Is Jeremy okay?" she asked frantically.
Stefan nodded. "Yeah, yeah...he's home with Jenna. They're both fine."
She nodded back with relief. "And Caroline and Bonnie…have you seen them? I think they're both mad at me for leaving." She admitted guiltily.
He smiled for her, but kept the smirk to himself. "I saw them too. They're not mad at you…just a bit tied up with their own stuff." He put a slight emphasis on 'tied up'. "I don't think you need to worry about them."
"Good." Elena sighed and placed a hand on his. "I'm sorry this happened to you Stefan…It didn't even occur to me that they would come for you too. At least you and Damon have each other now." She added with relief. She had been worried about Damon not having anyone here but herself that he could trust…and now he had his brother, the one person he could trust no matter what.
…
I watched on with worry as he was slammed to the ground by his father and Mikael pointed the tip of his sword at his son's throat.
"You are foolish and impulsive, my son." Nicklaus panted in fear. "What? No more laughter?" he growled.
I glance at Esther as she spoke up. "You've made your point, Mikael."
The enraged man thrust his sword into the ground beside Nicklaus and I turned my head away and cringed. "Some days…it's a miracle that you're still alive. Boy." He spat before standing up and sauntering off.
I ran to his aid, kneeling beside him. "Are you alright?" I caressed the side of his face tenderly. "Are you hurt?" I checked him over worriedly.
"I'm fine, my love." He stood up holding out a hand to help me up as well. "You needn't worry about me. My father's only intent is to make me fear him." He added begrudgingly.
"Nicklaus!" his sister called out to him rushing over. She smiled at me, before turning her playful smile to her brother. "If it eases you any, Henrick and I were quite impressed…you'll be a great fighter in battle." Rebekah idolized her older brother.
He graced her with a smile. "Thank you, sister."
Elijah came over and the pure smile he gave me sent a heated blush to my cheeks, and I had to bow my head to hide it from Nicklaus' eyes. I wasn't blind to the looks he had for me, or the small gestures of appreciation. "Miss. Tatya…" he bowed regally as if I were royalty, his eyes never leaving mine. "Did you enjoy the show?"
I raised my chin and pushed back my nervousness in his presence. He was much too charming for his own good…or mine. "I did, Klaus was very good." I casted a loving glance in his direction, using my personal name for him. I purposely, evaded mentioning Elijah's performance in the fight.
Elijah seemed to catch on unlike everyone else and gave me a knowing stare. He knew I lusted for him, and as embarrassing as it was, it was almost a relief for someone to know other than myself. I loved Nicklaus more than words could express…but there was a fire between Elijah and I that I couldn't explain to even myself. With one last heated look, he turned back to his brother, who seemed to not have noticed my conversation with Elijah at all, having been engaged in an exchange of light words with Rebekah and Henrick. "Nicklaus…find Finn and Kol and get everyone inside to the caves. The moon becomes full tonight."
We knew what that meant. The wolves would be free. The men we called our neighbours would turn into beasts.
Rebekah and Henrick headed off to the caves leaving me alone with the two brothers. Nicklaus placed both his hands on my face. "Go with Elijah…he'll keep you safe until I get back." He kissed my forehead and headed towards the woods to find his brothers.
Elijah graced me with another of his beautifully rare beaming grins and offered his arm for me to take. "Shall we?"
I linked my arm through his feeling a fluttering in my stomach.
Her eyes popped open with a startled gasp. She sighed and woke from the dream running her hands over her face.
"You okay?" Damon mumbled wrapping his arms back around her.
Elena nodded. "Yeah…just had a weird dream." She went over it again in her head and was surprised when she still recalled it as vividly as it did in her dream. She remembered ever detail, ever word said as if it were a recent memory.
