Possessed
Alex made it back to the house and found Bonnie and Elena standing in the kitchen. Elena seemed to be oblivious to the danger as she stood with Bonnie making small talk and drinking a cup of tea. They seemed to be talking about the upcoming Founder's Day celebrations.
Not wanting to alarm Elena about the potential danger just yet she smiled and asked, "Is it Founder's Day already?"
Elena nodded. "Yep and Caroline has jumped on the planning committee and has dragged us girls all in on it."
"Don't look at me," said Alex. "I hate that kind of stuff."
Elena pouted. "No, you can't abandon me with her. Bonnie has already managed to get out of it, you can't leave me alone."
Alex wanted to laugh, she kind of felt sorry for Elena. Alex shrugged her shoulders and leant against the counter.
A knock at the door caught their attention and Elena excused herself to answer it. Taking it as her chance, Alex grabbed Bonnie and pulled her into the living room. "How certain are you about the spell you did on Alaric?"
"About 85 per cent. James was only telling me about it yesterday. I was going to test it out on everyone to see the different reactions I would get. I mostly thought nothing would happen," said Bonnie.
"Until you gave it to Alaric."
She nodded. "Yeah. It glowed brighter than when anyone else held it."
"What made you think it was Klaus?"
"He called Elena love. She didn't seem to notice, but Alaric has never called her or anyone that before."
Alex frowned. "A pet name doesn't confirm its Klaus, but I agree that he has been acting very strange. Something is going on."
"Who is acting strange?"
The girls turned around to see Alaric standing in the archway with a soft smirk on his face. Without knowing Alaric like the others did, it left Alex at a disadvantage to see how genuinely different Alaric was acting. If he was possessed, then whoever had taken over knew everything, Mikael, Elijah, everything. If Klaus was the one in there, then every single plan they had was going out of the window.
"You're back," said Bonnie. Her voiced wavered. The fear was evident.
"I wanted to talk to Alex about something that couldn't wait." Alaric stepped towards them and slid his hands into his jacket.
Alex's whole body shook with alarm; the magic was pouring out of Alaric's being stronger than ever. Being so close to him and knowing for certain something wasn't right, her magic was screaming at her that this wasn't normal. "What did you want?" she asked. Alex needed to remain calm. If he didn't suspect them then perhaps they could use it to their advantage.
Alaric stepped right up to her, their bodies onto centimetres apart. His smirk fell away and was replaced with a glare. "Where is Mikael?"
Without hesitation, Alex pulled back her hands and said, "Et stringatur."
Alaric gasped out and fell to his knees.
"Alex!" cried Elena.
"Stay back," Alex grunted in concentration. Alaric was fighting her, his strength unusual for a mortal man. Whatever was inside him wasn't human. "Klaus, is it?" Alex asked.
Alaric smirked and tried to pull himself up. "Alexandra, I don't believe we have been officially introduced."
"No, and let's keep it that way a bit longer." Alex pushed her hands forward and shouted, "Somnum."
Alaric's body froze before collapsing to the ground. Alex took a moment and tried to catch her breath. Klaus was strong, his essence inside of a human body was unpleasant and unnatural. The idea of coming face to face with such a monster sent chills down her spine.
"What just happened?" asked Elena.
Alex pulled out her phone and said, "Alaric is being possessed by Klaus."
"What?"
Bonnie stepped closer to the unconscious Alaric and said, "Klaus had a witch put his spirit inside of Alaric so that he could ears drop, I'm assuming."
Alex dialled James, she would need some help to kick Klaus out of Alaric.
"Hey, you okay?" James asked.
"Yeah, fine. Just winded. Klaus is possessing Alaric, can you bring a removal spell, please." Alex took a deep breath to slow down her heart.
"Of course. I'll be there, asap."
"Thanks." Hanging up, Alex glared at the body. "Do we have any rope?"
Elena nodded. "Yeah."
"Grab it. Let's make sure that if he wakes up that he can't get away."
Elena nodded and walked out of the room.
Bonnie leant against the back of the couch and said, "I can't believe I was right."
Alex smiled. "You should be proud of yourself."
"Thanks, in such a short time you and James have helped me so much," said Bonnie.
"You should have had someone to guide you from the start. It's a shame that you didn't have anyone." Alex knelt down beside Alaric's body and started to check his pockets, just in case he had anything useful.
"You didn't have anyone either," said Bonnie.
"No, but I got lucky. Renee found me and showed me what I could really do."
Elena returned with the rope and while they tied him up, Alex also quickly bound the rope magically. Didn't need him finding a way to slip out.
Alex couldn't help but pace as she waited for James. Knowing that it was, in fact, Klaus, who was inside of Alaric, meant that everything would need to change. Mikael's return would no longer shock Klaus and give them the element of surprise. Klaus most likely knew that Elijah was working against him too. It was impossible to know how long it had been since Klaus had slipped into Elijah's body, and the bigger question was where was Klaus' real body. There was every possibility that he was a whole state away, or he could be right here in town.
The fact that he was inside of Alaric meant he could be hiding in the apartment Alaric kept in town. Knowing this, made Alex want to jump in her car to check it out but she couldn't leave Elena and Bonnie here alone with him. James was on the way, they could remove Klaus from Alaric and then check it out. However, if Klaus was in Alaric's apartment, then he would wake up and be gone by the time they got there. It was challenging to choose what to do.
Alex paused her pacing and sighed in relief as she saw James' car pull up out front. He was finally here. It had only been ten or fifteen minutes since she had called him, but her brain was in overdrive.
Alex yanked open the front door. "Finally. Do you have it?"
James stopped on the porch and pulled the books away from her. "Hello my darling Alex, I have missed you."
Alex rolled her eyes. "Yes, hi, I love you. Spell please?" she held out her hands.
James chuckled and stepped forward. He kissed her cheek and placed the book in her hand. "I love you too, I've marked the page."
Alex spun back around and flicked the book open.
"How did you figure out Klaus?" James asked. He walked into the house and stepped into the living room.
"Bonnie," said Alex.
James said, "Really? Doing spells without me already?" The teasing in his voice made Alex smile. He was always able to smile in stressful times. Even while chasing vampires and almost dying, he would try to make her smile.
Bonnie shrugged. "Couldn't help it."
"What are we going to do about Alaric?" asked Elena. Bonnie reached over and wrapped her arms around Elena. "It's okay," she said. "Alex and James are going to remove Klaus so we can get him back."
"And what's to stop Klaus from jumping right back in?" Elena asked.
"Imagine that possession is like unlocking a door. The witch that Klaus used unlocked the door so that he could step into Alaric. I'm going to kick Klaus back out the door and not just lock it but deadbolt it shut. No one will be getting back through," said Alex.
Alaric, or Klaus, stirred in the seat and let out a groan.
"Big bads awake," said James.
Klaus glared at him. "Oh look, Alexandra called her boyfriend for help." He chuckled. "Am I too much for you, Love?"
Alex clenched her teeth and dropped the book on the floor. "No. But I'm going to get you out of Alaric and I'm going to make sure it hurts."
Klaus smirked. "Good luck with that."
Alex took and deep breath and said, "Bonnie, would you be so kind as to gather six candles and place them around the chair. Elena, do we have salt?"
Both girls nodded and went to grab what was needed. Alex grabbed her bag and pulled out a bunch of different herbs. She broke them apart and started to spread them around the chair. Bonnie placed the candles and lit them, and Elena handed the salt to James, who drew a circle over the herbs.
They stood back and Alex said, "James, keep an eye out. Bonnie, help me out."
Bonnie smiled and stepped forward.
"Repeat after me," said Alex. "Et sanguis sanguinmen." Together Bonnie repeated the phrase with Alex. "Spiritus emundate." Again they repeated it together. The two began to chart, and Klaus cried out and struggled against his binds. Alex can't help but smile as the candles glow brighter and Klaus screams louder.
"Alex! Watch out," James yelled.
A strong force pushed Alex off her feet and threw her into the wall. Not allowing herself to stay down, she pushes herself up to see two witches she had never seen before trying to get to Klaus. James has his arms locked around the male and the female is approaching Klaus.
Alex threw the witch across the room before stepping towards Bonnie. The witch had knocked Bonnie out and Elena was looking for something to grab. "Elena, stay back," said Alex.
Elena reached for Bonnie and pulled her back into the kitchen.
The witch stood up. "We are leaving with him."
"Over my dead body!" snapped Alex.
The witch smirked. "My pleasure."
Alex pushed against the force from the other witch. She was powerful to be sure but Alex could feel that her strength was quickly weaning. Power meant nothing if you didn't have the endurance. Alex pushed back and cried out. Her magic lashed out and the witch flew back and landed on top of the wooden coffee table, the broken leg piercing through her chest.
Alex froze where she stood. The witch cried out, and blood gurgled from her mouth. Alex had killed vampires, plenty of them. She had never felt regret for any of them. But she had sentenced this witch to death. She laid on the floor dying and there wasn't anything she could do.
"No!" James cry brought Alex back to reality. She watched in horror as the witch pulled Klaus out the door and then was gone with a flash. "Damn it, Alex." James stood back up and turned to her. "What happened?"
Alex looked away from him to the female witch who was now dead on the floor. Ever since she had joined the Council, she had wanted to protect humans and witches alike. No matter what they had done in the past, no one deserved to die and she never thought she would be the one to kill them.
She took a step forward and pushed the hood off of the witches face. Alex felt tears slip from her eye and down her cheek. The witch was barely a woman, no older than eighteen years old, and Alex had just killed her.
"I killed her." The words fell from her mouth and they tasted like ash. It wasn't supposed to go like this.
"This wasn't your fault," said James.
"Yes, it was. I did this." Alex stepped away from the girl and from James. "I need a moment." Alex grabbed her bag and ran out the front door.
