The loud music was keeping the intense mantra that the witches were unfolding restricted to the basement only.
After a short loss of consciousness Silas was awake again and the screams were very hard to handle, Klaus kept his eyes on the blonde twisting on the ground hurt, they were also running out of time.
The witches forming a triangle increased their chants and the powerful spell grew of intensity until there was a sudden gush of wind and the flames around them flickered because of it.
Silas clutched the side of the head that wasn't his, the body he was using as his own was weaker and going limp because they had been at this for hours but the full moon would be gone soon, all he had to do was fight a little longer.
Abby was the weakest link and the first to break the triangle because he focused on her, she buckled her knees ready to fall under his power but Rebekah blocked her energy from Silas, he was left without a link to Abby when Rebekah's energy took over.
Silas groaned upset. "All that goodness inside of you is sickening."
Rebekah disregarded the comment but Sheila didn't and came closer to the iron bars stopping next to Klaus.
"It's what makes her so powerful, she is a good witch, no matter what dark surrounds her she has a good heart."
"She is an idiotic fool who offers her heart to the first one who shows interest… your baby sister just gives it all away doesn't she?" Silas smiled darkly at Klaus, spiking him.
Klaus wasn't letting anything through his steel closed up door, he was a warrior on a mission and his only thoughts consisted on rescuing Caroline from Silas' hold.
"She just might be a little more than that…" Damon's voice reached Silas through the dark hallway leading to the iron prison, he looked at the blonde with the other two witches forming a triangle. "… she might just be your little unexpected crush."
The blonde who was chained gave him a scornful laughter. "I'm a God Damon, crushes are for pitiable young vampires who turn their emotions off and lie down on dark roads as a sad attempt to come across as complex and out of the ordinary."
Damon pulled the side of his mouth. "You really put the awkward into the it's none of your Goddamn business."
"I honestly don't know what Caroline sees in all of the men in her life, every single one of you is a waste of my precious fortitude."
"She's our humanity." Stefan's voice joined the others.
Silas was serious as the younger Salvatore grew closer.
"More than a sister, a friend or a lover, Caroline represents the humanity we all lost along the way. Tormented by our sins that we swore at the very beginning to not succumb to, for what we believed was the right thing to do until our disappointment and weakness drove us to hide behind the blood. We lost our touch with what was human in us and then along came Caroline touching our lives, all in different ways… so in the end Silas, you just really chose the wrong body to mess with."
"A poet, I'm touched by the odd threesome but unfortunately the only one she truly and…" she tilted her head toying with them "… hopelessly loves, hides behind door number…" she smiled and looked at Klaus. "... three."
Klaus barely reacted but there was a softness across his tensed features, Caroline was so much more than his humanity, she was the heart that didn't beat anymore, the soul that was forsaken from all the massacres that he easily disregarded even before the crimson blood dried on his skin.
Silas smiled with a slow tired moan. "She is my mate..."
Klaus tensed upon hearing his thoughts out in the open but he unfolded his arms slowly. "Yes, Caroline is my mate. Not because we are both part of a warped game that you came up with, she is my mate because she is the one I want to be loyal to, the one that I crave to be faithful to. Whose protection and safety comes before everyone and everything else, for whom I would kill and sacrifice everything I ever conquered. We are not part of a supernatural plan, we fell in love with each other and you have nothing to do with that."
"You are so hot when you are all cocky and arrogant."
"You may call it confidence."
She laughed eerily. "I am a God." she came as close as she could to him. "What are you but a spider in my web?" she whispered with a smirk.
"Immortal and a sire to all vampires and werewolves, the Alpha male to all hybrids and Caroline's man. Not bad for a spider, although I wouldn't mind if you addressed me by my real name."
"And what name would that be?" Silas mused with a smile.
"The devil that is coming for your heart."
"A fight between God and the Devil? Now that's a standoff."
"Or good old prosaic distraction." Damon interrupted the heavy confrontation.
While Silas looked at him with massive confusion, Klaus smiled.
Silas looked at the witches, they gathered around the coffin with his body, the lid was open and the body inside looked like Caroline, outside the night was coming to an end. "I will kill Caroline and then take another body."
Klaus faced Bonnie giving her a small nod, she returned it and closed her hand around a small knife, her blood fell over the body inside of the coffin.
Sheila did the same and then they waited for the werewolf blood that was missing, April quietly came to the group making her blood drop into the coffin as well.
Abby placed her hands over the body. "The blood of a werewolf, the blood of a vampire and the blood of a human. Now we need the power of a gathering so that we can reverse the spell and reveal his true face." she reached out to Bonnie who took the crystal from her pocket.
"Use the energy gathered upstairs." Klaus said before Bonnie handed the crystal to her mother.
"What? We have a powerful coven gathered inside of the crystal." Abby confronted Klaus.
"We need to save the crystal to turn Caroline into a hybrid."
"Klaus… I don't have to sacrifice anyone." Bonnie still tried to reason with him.
"You will do as I say Bonnie or I start clearing the room." he was simply informing her at this point.
Bonnie looked at her Grandmother at once, she was defenseless now without her powers.
Klaus flashed grabbing the woman unable to put up a fight and tilted her head dangerously close to a simple fatal snap.
"Klaus..." Bonnie pleaded but her mother reacted by taking a step forward.
Just like Stefan did until Damon cut his way.
"Sorry little brother but the adults are running the show now."
"What's going on in here?" Kol was the latest visit, unable to keep away when he heard all the commotion.
"A very entertaining artistic play, Caroline would be moved with all the efforts to rescue her from this cruel fortune." Silas looked at the moon outside with a smile, it would be day soon but this was tiring and the show was straining as well with all the thoughts running around in upheaval.
"We are wasting time that we do not have." Rebekah tried to put some order into the mess.
"I'm not doing a thing until you let her go." Abby didn't take her eyes from Klaus.
His eyes turned yellow and his fangs came out. "I wouldn't twitch if I were you Kol." he warned his brother.
"Just give me that." Rebekah took the crystal from Bonnie's hand. "If you have a problem doing whatever it takes to destroy him and bring your friend back, I don't." she looked at Silas. "The hatred I feel for you should be enough to grant me access to the black arts."
Silas was silent for now, Rebekah wasn't powerful enough and this dramatic opera would be over soon.
Rebekah didn't use the crystal, instead she started feeding from the energy around and above her.
"I'll help you..." Bonnie reluctantly gave in.
Klaus' face returned to normal and he released the woman shaking in his arms.
"Please take her away from here." Abby asked Kol who looked at Bonnie before taking Sheila away to safety.
As the other two girls began to drain the energy around them, Abby slowly gave in as well and helped them connect to the energy flowing in the room upstairs.
Klaus was pleased as the face inside of the coffin began to change and an iron mask slowly began to take shape, he looked at Silas who frantically pulled the chains, pacing restless in circles inside of his binding trap.
Kol nodded once at Sheila before closing the door of the car, he stood there as Elijah drove her away and as he heard Henrik approaching he turned to face him. "Someone better put me out of my misery, I thought that handling one Bennett was a demanding test." he looked at Henrik. "I'm now caught between three of them."
Henrik chuckled. "It's not so bad… look at it this way, Bonnie's father could be here as well."
"You are not remotely funny Henrik." Kol replied serious.
Henrik shrugged. "At least I only have one Petrova to deal with."
"I'm not happy about that either." Kol turned his back on Henrik.
His brother smiled quickly following him. "Why are you so sour regarding Kat?"
"I don't trust her."
Henrik stopped his brother by grabbing his arm. "I have big alarming and most shocking news for you."
"Is she pregnant?" Kol asked without a smile.
Henrik gave him a look. "We already established who the comedic in the family is, so ease up on the sarcasm."
"Notice the way that I'm waiting with bated breath for the news." he added a smile to his rebellion.
"I know that it's a shock but I'm not a child anymore Kol and I need to make my own choices even if they appall you beyond."
"If she harms you in any way, I will bury her alive." Kol easily smiled and walked away.
"Thanks dad." Henrik said with a happy smile, he got inside of another car and beamed at Katherine.
"I was thinking somewhere exotic and warm, like a private beach where I can seduce you in tiny bikinis and we can make love in the sand while the waves hit us at night." she purred at him.
Henrik cleared his throat. "How tiny are we speaking off, exactly?"
She gave him a seductive smile while driving away. "The nude type."
"Take my stunned reaction as a clear sign of approval." he vehemently nodded at her.
She fixed her sunglasses. "You are so adorbs Henrik that it's actually hot."
He liked that and smiled stretching his arm and resting his hand over her seat, he played with her heavy curls which completely left her weak to his sweet innocent ways.
"This must be how Tatia found the body, his true face covered with an iron mask." April said quietly from her corner.
Silas smiled. "Almost..."
With that a loud sound startled everyone as the coffin slammed shut.
"And then that happened." Silas said with a slow gaze at Klaus. "Less than one hour left before dawn my hot hybrid, what will it be?"
Abby and the others tried opening the coffin but it wouldn't budge an inch.
Klaus opened the iron door pulling all the attention towards him, even Silas was surprised. "Break the spell Bonnie, let Silas out of the circle." he asked without looking at the witch.
She shook her head. "We shouldn't do that, it's not safe Klaus."
"Now Bonnie." Klaus demanded with a stern loud voice.
She looked at her mother who nodded at her, everything was already out of control anyway.
Bonnie closed her eyes focusing on it.
Klaus came near Silas, he forcefully pulled the chain that held the monster to the wall. "I need everyone to leave." he commanded.
"Now you've lost it…" Rebekah protested, when Klaus simply looked at her and she raised her arms. "Exiting now."
Slowly everyone left him alone with Silas who eyed him suspicious.
"Are you sending away the lamb that was sacrificing as well?"
April looked back before leaving the dagger on top of the coffin.
"Yes, she offered herself to kill you but you can't be killed, can you Silas? Because you have no real face…" Klaus came near the coffin easily opening it, Caroline's face was there again.
"Each one of you sees what they want to see, if the others come back they will see me with an iron mask." Silas quietly explained.
"You exist as a spirit and with the face of those who host you…"
Silas' eyes narrowed. "Something is not right…"
"You gave yourself away Silas. A true God has no face, no sex or weakness."
Silas recognized his words and gasped one second too late as Klaus turned around to pick Qetsiyah's dagger while someone blurred inside the cellar to keep Silas in place for Klaus to dive the blade straight into the beating heart of Caroline.
"You tricked me…" Silas breathed out.
It was torture for Klaus to watch Luka holding a dying Caroline in his arms and the exchange of looks happened for a second before Luka pushed the knife deeper.
"How…" Silas tried to speak but the life faded from Caroline's body too fast for him to stop any of it.
Luka rested the body on the ground, blood was pouring out of the heart slowly stopping and he roughly sat next to Caroline, his life was fading along with hers.
Klaus knelt next to them and moved her hair away from the milky-skinned features, he was trying to keep in mind that this was still Silas.
With a dying motion Silas touched his hand connecting to Klaus and his thoughts, catching a precious glimpse into what had been ingeniously hidden from him until now.
2 hours earlier
"You want to kill him using this?" Klaus asked April but staring at the dagger that Kol gave him earlier.
"That will kill him, once Bonnie and the others manage to send him back to his body."
Klaus looked at her. "How do we know this will really work?"
"It's our best option and I'm willing to sacrifice myself, I will lose my life along with Silas'."
"Are you my real sister?" Klaus asked with a smear of vulnerability.
"I won't waste your time with tests because Caroline's life is hanging by a thread…" she simply said turning her back on him, April pulled her shirt down revealing her shoulder.
The same birthmark as his could not have been manufactured and Klaus closed his eyes for a brief moment, his mind was too clouded for a clear judgment.
"I'll do it." Another voice echoed with determination from inside the library.
Klaus looked at Luka perplexed but the hybrid smiled at him.
"It's my chance to acquit myself, there's nothing left for me in this realm Alpha, let me do this final act for Caroline before I go join my mate on the other side."
Klaus slowly nodded flickering his eyes to the sister he spent centuries looking for. "Once Caroline returns to us, I would like to have a moment with you that doesn't include some ritual to sacrifice your life." he told April.
It made her smile. "I'm happy that we will have that chance Niklaus."
He gave her a small smile then he focused on his brave soldier. "You know that Caroline will probably never forgive us for this."
Luka warmly chuckled. "She will be crossed, I know that but as a werewolf she will understand how everything no longer makes sense since I lost Lexi."
Klaus rested his hand over Luka's shoulder. "I'm proud to have shared my days with you Luka and to have turned you into one of my hybrids, you have been a tremendous addition to our family."
Luka gulped down an emotional spur. "The honor has been all mine, my sire."
The two wolves reached that silent understanding and natural duty towards the other Alpha who needed them now.
"Nik!" Rebekah stormed into the room. "You need to come downstairs, Caroline is fighting Silas."
Klaus rushed through the hallway and down the stairs, he ignored everyone inside the cellar for his eyes were only with the blonde nested against Stefan's chest.
"Sweetheart?" he came closer unsure of what was happening.
She sighed tiredly when she saw him and moved away from Stefan like a magnet attracted to Klaus. "Nik… I'm so happy that you're here." she whispered in a low voice once she was in his arms.
Klaus looked at the others now truly lost.
"I managed to dormant Silas but that's all that we've been able to do so far, we can't expel him, not without killing Caroline." Bonnie sadly explained.
Klaus gave her a squint before reacting because Caroline's heart was weak, he could barely listen to it beating now that he concentrated, he gently pulled her away from his chest looking at the beautiful face that weakly smiled at him.
"I can feel him wanting to take over again and I won't be able to keep him away for long." Caroline's voice came out strained.
"Yes you will." he steadily said. "And you will do this for me, you will fight him until we defeat him."
Caroline moved her bruised wrist, the chains were almost too heavy for her to sustain. "In case I'm not able to fight him…"
Klaus stopped her immediately. "Don't!"
Caroline caressed his face with her fragile hand, she gave him a look filled with love and all the words that he wasn't going to let her proclaim to him.
"Don't say goodbye to me." he coldly warned her.
"Then don't listen…" she smiled defying him.
He pressed his lips giving her a severe look as a serious response.
"I can read his thoughts Nik..."
There was the same look on everyone's face, it hadn't been a possibility but this could be their chance to turn the corner.
"I was conscious the entire time and I know now that the only way to stop him…" she took in an exhausted breath and licked her dry lips. "… is to play his game and trick him good. He has no face… he is everyone and right now I am him." she murmured before she touched Klaus' wrist with her finger.
Klaus looked down thrown with what she was trying to tell him, then he looked at her with wide understanding eyes.
"Try not to sire me… I will be really pissed if in the end, I will be turned into a zombie forced to do whatever you want." she had a little smirk.
Klaus softly kissed her before her control over Silas slipped away and she pressed her lips against his in bliss.
He kissed her lips one more time before biting into his wrist, he carefully cradled Caroline against his chest while feeding her with his blood. "As you wish, Miss Mystic Falls." he stroked her hair while the foundation of a new plan started to develop.
Silas released Klaus' hand. "It was all a careful deception for my eyes only."
"There was no real sacrifice upstairs, only all the witches that Caroline's pack managed to find, all gathered in the same room blocking our real thoughts and intentions from you."
"The triangle?" Silas asked moments away from perishing.
"Performing a spell to turn Caroline into a hybrid and making sure that you are forever banned to another dimension."
Silas hoarsely breathed. "The devil wins then…" he let out before Caroline's heart finally stopped.
Rebekah dropped the crystal inside of the coffin that burst into a blue flame, all the faces that Silas ever took appeared in a grotesque way, all fading from one to another in a macabre show before the body turned into ashes and the iron mask was all that was left.
Klaus picked Caroline's lifeless body in his arms and came near Silas' coffin, the iron mask was now melting with the blue flame, soon there would not be anything left.
Rebekah watched it all burn with a sigh, it was over, Silas was finally gone and she cleaned a loose tear, he wouldn't harm or abuse anyone else.
She looked at Klaus with a smile. "It's done."
"I don't think that this is the last we will ever hear from him Rebekah." Klaus looked at Luka, his body was as well consumed by fire. "Silas will always be a shadow in the dark." he somberly acknowledged all the damage that Silas made.
Luka looked at the burning house, the fire was consuming the entire property and he was the last one here, well he was dead and his body was burning inside of the house so he wasn't exactly sure why he was standing there like he was not really part of this movie but able to see it.
"Are you happy now, with your deranged romantic final act?"
Luka gasped turning around with a jolt, he felt the tears come as he saw Lexi standing there with her arms crossed and a really angry stance. "Are you really here?" He asked her slowly.
"I'm dead and so are you now, you big fool." she crumbled with tears forming as well.
He shook his head while hurrying to her, Luka grabbed her and kissed her just to make sure that he could touch and feel her.
He laughed against her lips because she was warm and he could hold her again and kiss her, which he did again, he kissed her lips, her cheek, her eyes and her forehead. "I love you so much Lexi." he pulled back keeping her face in his hands.
"What did you do Luka?" she asked cradling his face as well because like him, she had missed him too much.
"I couldn't live without you Lexi, none of it made sense without you."
She punched his chest mad. "Ugh, first you mourn me by my grave every night and now you die just so you can be with me? I hate you so much that it's clouding the way that I love you with all of my heart."
Luka smiled stroking her cheeks, her long hair heavenly warmed his hands as he did so. "Now you have me forever, for real this time."
Lexi closed her eyes when he kissed her, then she slid her hands under his jacket while he held her close, now eternity was about to be perfect, they were together again.
There was a very loud noise, something that kept thumping in her ear and it was getting louder by the second, there was also a really warm light hurting her and she covered the side of her face because of it, when she tried to open her eyes it was too bright and she had to shield from the light.
As she struggled to keep her eyes open she became aware that it was the sun that felt too warm against her skin and too bright to get used to.
"Caroline?" Bonnie softly called her.
She smiled a bit. "Hey..." she tried to think of something to say that would erase everything that Silas atrociously threw at everyone that she loved. "I'm sorry for the awful things that I said." she gripped Bonnie's hand tight, it was a pathetic try but she was not eloquent enough to redeem all the pain that the demon just caused while in her body.
Bonnie shook her head at Caroline. "Let's pretend that it never happened, all that matters is that you are here with us now."
She wanted to insist with her and apologize with more conviction but the strange beating noise was distracting and she had to know what it was.
Quickly she scanned the room focusing on Sheila and after a few seconds she was able to identify the sound with accuracy, it was Sheila's heartbeat that she could listen as clear and loud as if she was connected to one of those hospital machines.
"I'm a vampire." she caught her breath with a hand that flew to her chest.
"Are you ok Caroline?" Stefan anxiously neared the bed.
She smiled nodding and touched her chest again, there was a heart there that wasn't beating and then she covered her mouth with a nervous laughter, it was unforeseen to imagine that she would react with such joy to her new condition. "Where's Nik?" she hadn't seen him in the room.
"He left this for you." Kol came forward handing her a blood bag.
She made a really loathsome sound as she accepted the blood. "This is the last time that bitch is ever crossing my path." she bitterly said as she ripped the top of the blood bag and drank from it without hesitation.
"Congratulations, you are a successful hybrid." Kol eyed her as she leaped from the bed with a really swift move.
She felt elegant as she stood with all eyes on her, she had many things to say to everyone but nothing compared to the undeniable urge that overtook everything else, Caroline had to see and touch him, she had to listen to his voice again.
With a fast pace she left the room, the hallway and jumped over the staircase with no use for the stairs, she found Mason and her pack outside but instead of asking them about his whereabouts she closed her eyes.
She focused on that unexplainable calling and smiled, she knew exactly where he was.
She started to run, then she blurred through the woods only stopping when her entire body seemed to ache with an intense desire and love, she could not find a rational explanation even if she tried, she headed towards a cave knowing that she would find him there waiting for her.
And could he look more beautiful to her than he did now?
Because his eyes were of a beautiful shade of blue that now seemed greener to her and his dirty-blond hair matched his unshaven scruff that she wanted scratching her skin and he seemed taller and stronger to her as he stood there serious.
"Leave." he suddenly said.
If she had a heart it would certainly stop and she frowned choking on words that didn't come out.
"I want you to leave and to never come back again Caroline, I'm sending you away as your Alpha and Sire." he added with a straining voice.
"I'm not going anywhere, if you think that after all of this you can just send me away then you clearly lost your mind." she angrily started to shout at him. "Seriously Klaus? This is what you cowardly choose after all that has happened between us? How dare you stand there and order me to leave?" her yells filled the dark cave.
He paced quickly towards her and took her face between his hands kissing her with such passion that it left her shaken, it wasn't a fast reaction but she answered his kiss at first before shoving him away.
"What is seriously wrong with you?"
"I gave you a direct order Caroline…" he smiled knotting his fingers with her hair.
"I'm not sired to you..." It finally dawned on her and she gripped his wrists hard. "I'm not sired to you." she repeated allowing the words to slowly settle inside of her, her love for him was pure and her loyalty and desire came from a love that wasn't tainted by anything or anyone. "I love you." she said with a determination that was never as clear as she felt in that precise moment while gazing into his eyes.
She pressed her lips against his with will and desire and she didn't let him go because she didn't need air now, she held on to him as tight as she could and tugged his hair while taking charge of the kiss.
She only stopped caressing his tongue when he flashed and pinned her against the wall, her breath was racing and his was scorching her skin that longed for his touch, her new abilities triggered while all of her restrains easily shattered when he trailed her neck with his lips and the tip of his tongue.
Before he reached her lips again she pulled his hair and his head back and he hissed in a way that only aroused her even more, she wanted to test this new strength that she had and easily pushed him away, he barely budged but she smiled satisfied because he wasn't doing it just to please her, he actually staggered because of her.
This was going to be fun but she was no match to him and he had her pinned against that wall again effortlessly.
Before they established who the real Alpha was between them, they needed to deal with the fact that they were both wolves and above it all, true mates.
So they claimed each others' lips and melted their tongues together for the longest time before she ripped his clothes apart happy that she was able to do that now, that it only took her seconds to have him heavenly naked in front of her.
Her clothes were no match for his strong hands that tore them apart easily, revealing the body that he had missed and there was a loud grunt as he caressed her naked breasts and then the side of her body.
Caroline moved her hands along his broad shoulders settling them around his neck as he easily scooped her up, she laced her legs around his waist and met his lips that eagerly searched hers for a rough kiss, Caroline scrapped his neck feeling him closely to where she needed him.
His big hand warmed all of her body as he wandered through the ivory perfection pressed against the wall, she moaned when he lost his hand in her hair and scratched her face with his unshaven cheek.
He rested his lips against her ear, whispering with raw vulnerability. "I love you."
He framed her waist with his strong hands and powerfully buckled his hips to penetrate her with one hard thrust, Caroline harshly gasped as he started to take her hard and fast right there against that cold wall.
He breathed against her neck as he claimed her body with every steady thrust but Caroline responded by lacing her arms around his neck and lifting up the wall a bit so that she could find an angle to answer his motions.
Every push that he made started being answered by her and she swayed her body against his strongly, her legs were tight around him, her hands slippery on his back but they were still a perfect puzzle that moved together.
Their foreheads were glued together and there was a mutual smile between them as the primal mating reached that sweet painful moment when he was forced to slow down and every thrust was deliberate, every whimper and loud moan was silenced by deep kisses until he felt her body shuddering against him.
She was barely recovering from a loud cry of his name and he was again pressing her against the wall and picking up his pace, his eyes changed and Caroline felt hers change long with his, it felt silly now to think of how much she had fought against this because she never felt so at ease in her skin as she did now as a hybrid.
With a smile she kissed him, they were designed for each other and that's the only love she ever knew.
Soundtrack:
Night of the Hunter (Unplugged) - Thirty Seconds To Mars
Unthought known – Pearl Jam
Never tear us apart – INXS