Elijah was not surprised to see that Katerina was right where he had left her. She looked pale and weak on the white painted swing that sat on their front porch. Her green skirts crumpled around her body as she lounged, unable to keep the strength for a proper seated position he was sure. He slowly walked over to her and leaned against the railing, "Ready to tell me everything I wish to know?"
"Can you save my life?" She asked, her voice dry and cracking.
"I can try to convince Niklaus to save your life, he is the only one who can do it." He responded.
She let out a weak laugh, "He would rather watch me rot."
"I cannot deny that the act would give him pleasure, as it would the rest of us. We are not without mercy though, for the right reasons." He told her, his eyes going to the open wound on her arm, "Where is Mikael?"
She was silent for a long moment, the only sounds were her harsh breathing and the birds. He had almost suspected she was not going to speak at all when she said, "We had found a farmhouse on the other side of the town limits. Just an old man, he didn't even have any hired hands." She paused to let a series of coughs, "Easy enough to deal with, gave us a few good meals before his heart gave out. Last I saw Mikael, that was where he was, snapping Kol's neck to move somewhere else."
"How is my little brother?"
"Weak, he hasn't had any food for a long time." She answered, her chest heaving more and more with each breath.
Elijah nodded, he had assumed as much, "What of the witch that Mikael has working for him?"
Katerina shook her head, "I knew he must have one, the wards around the house were strong, but I never saw them."
He looked at her, "You are clever. The last few hundred years have taught us that. I don't believe for a moment you didn't try to find out the identity of the witch."
"I swear Elijah, whoever it is, I never saw them." Her eyes were begging for understanding.
"What else did Mikael tell you about his plan?" He asked and he heard approaching footsteps from inside the house.
"All he wants is to kill Klaus but he wants Klaus to suffer first. He had thought about killing Caroline in front of him. It was Victoria that came up with the idea of having Caroline lose her humanity and then kill herself in front of him." She told him, "You can still live Elijah, all you have to do is turn Klaus over to Mikael."
"Do you really think I'm so weak?" Elijah asked her, pushing himself off the railing, "I have not given up on my brother in 800 years but your plea here is supposed to change my mind? You will die in an hour if I do not convince him to save your life. You should be begging for our forgiveness."
"I…" Her voice failed her as her entire body tensed, her brown eyes looking past Elijah.
He knew who was standing behind him and he waited for him to speak.
"You have given us nothing of any value Katerina." Klaus spoke, his voice carrying a dangerous tone, "A farm house with a dead farmer and a witch you have never seen. Neither of those assist us in any way. Mikael will have abandoned the farmhouse by now, just as he has abandoned you."
"Please." She whispered, "I don't want to die."
"No one wants to die Katerina, but vengeful snakes always get what is coming to them." Niklaus replied, "I can put you in a cell with your co-conspirator. You can enjoy your suffering together before you both die."
"Maybe we should take it to a vote. I am sure Rebekah would love a say in this." Elijah said, his eyes never leaving the dying woman before them.
"We already know what Kol would vote for." Klaus said, his voice low.
"What do you want to let me live?" She begged.
The brothers were silent for a moment, letting the stillness in the air settle around them, before Klaus said, "Can you help us find Mikael?"
She shook her head.
"Can you tell us about his plans now? He must have had a backup plan if the ambush in the woods failed." Elijah asked.
"If he had one, then he never shared it with me." She replied before another coughing fit overtook her.
"Then you are truly no use to us Katerina." Klaus told her, "A slow death it is."
"I have done nothing to deserve this!" She yelled, as much as she was possible in her weakened state.
"I would say you have." A voice said, causing all of them to turn to the door. Stefan was standing there, his approach missed by them all as they conversed, "What you did to me was unwanted and cruel."
Elijah couldn't help the look of pity on his face as he looked at the young man in his doorway, he had nearly forgotten about Katerina's crimes against the Salvatore brothers. He turned back to look at her, looking for any sign of remorse. He did not see any.
"Stefan. I had no choice but…"
"You did have a choice!" Stefan yelled, stepping closer, "You never had to come to Mystic Falls. You never needed to come into my home and you certainly did not need to place yourself in either my brother's bed or my own. I certainly didn't want you there." His blue eyes roamed over her, "You deserve this."
He turned and walked back into the house, slamming the door behind him as he did.
Niklaus spoke first, "I think his words should take weight. I really don't invite you to our home, you can die here on the porch or in the garden. Which would you prefer?"
Katerina had nothing to say, she simply closed her eyes, and tears began to fall. Klaus did not stay to watch them, he turned and went back inside. Elijah went to follow when she said, "Elijah please."
He looked her over, "You have brought all of this on yourself Katerina. You have no one to blame but yourself."
He then went into the house himself, they had some spells to cast.
Rebekah walked into the kitchen, she needed a good cup of tea after her conversation with Caroline. Klaus had relieved her of her watch, even if Caroline had fallen asleep. He told her how Katerina was dying on the porch, one of his hybrids had gotten in a good bite it seemed. She did not care much for the woman at the moment however.
Elena, Emily, and a woman that Rebekah did not know were sitting at the small kitchen table, tea cups in hand. Emily smiled up at her, "Miss Rebekah, this is my niece Bonnie."
Bonnie got up and held out her hand. Rebekah shaked it and she could see the resemblance in their faces, Bonnie was probably only a decade younger than Emily at most. She had kind eyes and a genuine smile, so Rebekah would trust Emily's judgement, "Welcome and thank you for agreeing to help us. I know you did not need too."
"Aunt Emily has only ever spoken highly of your family and she certainly expressed her desperate need for my help." Bonnie answered before retaking her seat, "We were just going over everything will need to do for the proper spell."
Rebekah nodded and took a spot in the last chair, Emily had already poured her cup of tea as she had been introduced to Bonnie. She gave her a thankful smile before turning back to Bonnie, "Do we have everything we would need?"
"I believe so. We have access to something of Kol's through his room and Emily assures me we have all the proper ingredients for the spell. Just need to wake for darkness to fall." Bonnie said with a smile.
"Always needing the darkness these spells, very inconvenient." Rebekah replied before taking a sip of her tea.
"Do you know a lot about magic Rebekah? I have finding this all very interesting." Elena asked, her brown eyes dancing with interest.
Rebekah nodded, "My mother was a very powerful witch, Kol and I were the only ones to really show any indication of it. My father was against Kol learning though, he thought it was more suitable for a woman, so I was allowed to learn from her."
"Are you still a witch then?" Elena questioned.
"Becoming a vampire severs your ties to the magic." She said, unable to stop the sadness and longing from seeping into her voice.
"Your knowledge can still be useful however." Emily comforted her.
Rebekah nodded with thanks but could not think of anything to say. Elijah choose that moment to join them, "Rebekah, could I have a word with you for a moment?"
"Of course." She said and got up to follow him out to the foyer, "What is it?"
"Stefan confronted Katerina out on the porch, he expressed some very personal feelings. I think you should talk to him, he is in the library. He could use a friend right now." Elijah told her, and she could tell from his tone that whatever Stefan had said had saddened him.
"I will do that right away." She told him before walking off. Her thoughts running through all the scenarios about what could have happened to the boy she had only really began to get to know.
The door was open when she arrived, so she hesitantly walked in, not sure what state she would find Stefan in when she was simply seated in the window seat, his eyes focused on the backyard, and the fading afternoon light. She walked forward slowly and quietly said, "Stefan."
His head instantly snapped around to look at her, his blue eyes holding a shame and sadness, "Rebekah."
When he did not ask her to leave, she stepped closer to him, "Elijah told me I could find you here. I was wondering if we could perhaps talk, if you were feeling up to it."
He considered her a moment before nodding and getting up, walking over to sit on one of the couches instead. She gave him a supportive smile and sat down on the couch opposite him, still giving him space.
When he did not start talking, she choose to take the lead, "I want you to know, that I do not blame you for anything that Katerina...sorry, Katherine, might have made you do. I also do not consider you weak in any way."
He shook his head, "You don't even know what you are forgiving me for."
"If you want to tell me, I am here to listen, but if you don't. I have an idea of what she did from context in what she has told me and from things that you and Damon have said." She said, trying to make sure her voice stayed supportive.
"I…." He looked away form her, "I am not ready to talk about it."
"That is perfectly alright. I am here whenever you want to talk about it, whether it is today, tomorrow, next week, next year, or never." She promised him, "I am not going anywhere Stefan. I am here for however long you want me to be here."
"How can you be so understanding about all this?"
"I have lived a long time Stefan, there is much I have witnessed and experienced during that time. It would be very wrong of me to judge you for something like this." She told him and then frowned, "You do understand what we are, don't you?"
He nodded, "Katherine told me all about it, I can still remember it."
"Do you have any questions? I want you to feel comfortable here, at least as much as you can given the circumstances."
"How….how was she able to control me like that?" He asked after a few beats of silence.
"When you become a vampire, you develop an ability to be able to control the actions of others. We call it compulsion." She explained to him, "Most use it to keep their victims from screaming before death. Katherine used it as a tool to keep herself safe and feed without raising suspicion from the townsfolk. She has always been manipulative like that."
"She said that you have been trying to kill her for centuries." He said it wasn't really framed as a question but she chose to answer it as such all the same.
"She betrayed us, long ago. We do not take that sort of thing for granted." She answered shortly.
He nodded, "Will she die?"
Rebekah nodded, "The bite she received will kill her before morning. She can do nothing else to harm you."
"That wasn't what I was worried about." He commented but did not offer more and she did not press. This was more than she was expecting to get out of him today and she did not want to push him too hard before he was ready.
Emily appeared in the doorway, "Dinner is ready Miss Rebekah."
"Thank you Emily, we will be along in a moment." She replied and looked to him as Emily walked away, "Do you feel up to dinner? If you don't I can have a plate made up for you to eat in your room."
He got to his feet and held out his hand, "May I escort you to dinner?"
She smiled and took his hand, "Thank you sir."
As they walked toward the dining room, she hoped that was a start to him getting better.
Elena had enjoyed dinner, Stefan had joined them, and Bonnie was a person able to keep up a good conversation. Damon had kept himself in his room, but it didn't seem that anyone had minded. James and Margaret had retired early, leaving the rest of them to their witchcraft. Rebekah had told Stefan what they were planning to do, giving him the option to watch or go up to his room. Elena was a bit surprised when he decided to join them.
It wasn't long before the darkness fell completely and then they all went out into the backyard. Elena and Stefan did not have anything to do, they just stood off to the side and stayed out of the way. Elijah was placing torches at paced intervals around in a circle, in the middle of which Emily sat setting things around a raised bowl. Bonnie was in the garden picking things from amongst the rows of herbs and flowers. Rebekah had gone to get Klaus but had not yet returned. She thought of talking to Stefan but the moment seemed like it deserved some silence.
Rebekah eventually returned, alone, and said that Klaus didn't want to leave Caroline. Elena was still amazed at the devotion Klaus showed his wife, especially one that she was told no longer cared about anyway. She hoped for one day of that kind of love.
Bonnie walked over from the garden and sat opposite of Emily, placing her gathered items beside the ones that Emily had put out. Rebekah and Elijah joined them off to the side and it seemed as though the world fell into a silence.
Emily and Bonnie began speaking in a tongue she did not understand while placing items into the bowl. The wind suddenly picked up and the flames on the torches shot higher, seemingly defying the elements. She watched it with shocked silence.
Then, just as suddenly as the wind and flame shot up, they died down. Emily looked over at them, "We know where he is."
Elena smiled and looked over to Elijah, he did not have a smile on his face, but she thought he looked happy all the same. This was the news that they had been looking for afterall. Maybe they will be able to end this whole thing sooner rather than later.
A/N: Thank you to those that have left reviews and to anyone reading, but not reviewing. I appreciate it all! 3