Chapter 29
When Caroline came back home after spending two entire days with her father and his boyfriend, she was shocked to learn what had happened while she was away. Not only Elena had almost died and she hadn't been there to support her friend but she would also have loved to see Bonnie saving the day with her magic. Her witch friend had been empowered by the latest events and seemed more at peace, more confident, with her witch heritage. It was a side of her friend she liked to see and would have loved to see sooner.
When she arrived at Bella's apartment, it looked like half the Mickealson family was present. Klaus and Bella were on the couch, in each other's arms, Elijah was sitting in an armchair next to Bella and reading a book, Rebekah was by her side, after having opened the door for her and Kol was in the kitchen. Carlisle was standing in front of them, explaining that Bella would be fine as long as she took the time to rest.
"Caroline, don't be shy, come on in. I'm not allowed to get up right now but please, make yourself at home." Bella told Caroline as soon as she saw her.
"How are you doing? How is she doing?" Caroline asked first Bella, then Carlisle.
"She'll be fine as long as she rests, which means no work for the next few days." Carlisle replied with a chuckle.
Carlisle liked Caroline, he knew that she was bonding with Rosalie and that he'd be seeing a lot of her in the future. He was glad. She was refreshing and had a sunny personality. He could see her joining his family in the long run. She'd complete them.
"I'll go and call to reschedule all of your appointments." Rebekah declared before she left the room.
The hybrid secretary was visiting family, so she couldn't do it but Rebekah was more than happy to fill the position in the mean time.
"Thank you for coming back Carlisle. Don't worry, we'll be fine now, you can go and spend some well deserved days with your family." Bella assured Carlisle.
"I'll leave in a couple of hours, I want to check in on Alaric and Elena first. By the time I'm done, Esme will have arrived with the car and we'll probably just run back home to get there faster." He nodded before leaving.
.
Alaric wasn't super happy about becoming a vampire but he didn't want to die yet either. His only choices were death or vampire. He chose vampire. He didn't know how things would turn out but he knew that he wasn't alone. He had his loving girlfriend Jenna, who took this better than he could have hoped for her to and he had Finn and Sage to help him get control over his new abilities and bloodlust. He also knew that he could count on Carlisle Cullen to help him out if he needed it. He had friends, that was the most important, they'd figure the rest out on the way, like Finn and Sage had promised him.
He wasn't just any vampire either, Esther had made him an equal to her children and he was now an original. Hard to kill without white oak, able to compel even vampires and only down by being daggered, Original.
"Are you okay Alaric? Can I let Jenna in? She's a bit anxious to see you." Finn asked Alaric.
Indeed, as soon as Alaric had drank some human blood and completed the transition, he had asked Jenna to stay away from him until he was sure that he wouldn't hurt her. It had been a few days ago.
"Yes, do it. I'm in control now." Alaric nodded.
Jenna appeared in the doorway and her first couple of steps were shy, tentative and slow but after 3 steps, she broke into a run and jumped into Alaric's arms, hugging him close to her and telling him how much she had missed him. She really loved him and she wasn't ready to lose him yet, not to something as ridiculous as death. She was glad that he had taken the decision to complete the transition and stay with her.
Given his history, she had feared that he would chose to give up on life and to not complete the transition. Then she would have lost yet another person she cared about.
.
Esther wasn't sure how much time had passed since she had woken up in this dark cave, unable to leave. She had been in transition and by her side laid a very tempting blood bag. She knew that she should have held on and waited to die naturally but she couldn't do it, she couldn't resist the urge to feed.
She understood that she was being punished. At least her children gave her a choice to drink the blood and complete transition or to die. She hadn't given her children this choice and now they punished her for it. She knew it.
It was cruel of them to leave her all alone in this cave, especially since she knew what would happen to her now: she would slowly desiccate, suffer from her hunger until they took pity on her and either freed her or killed her. Or maybe she'd have to stay there until the end of times. The uncertainty was probably what was the hardest for her.
When she heard noise coming front the stone entrance, she rushed there, hoping that maybe her children had decided to give her a second chance and to let her be a part of the family, even as a vampire. Since the babies were probably dead now, her children had nothing to worry about.
As soon as the stone was removed, Esther was temporarily blinded by the light coming in. It wasn't much light but her eyes still needed time to get acclimated and when they did, she saw all of her children, Sage and Bella standing in front of the others, along with Alaric.
Bella still looked pregnant and Esther could still hear, thanks to her new vampire abilities, the babies' hearts beating. Elijah and Klaus stood on either side of Bella protectively while the others were all around but it was obvious to Esther that they would all jump in to protect Bella if necessary.
It was also obvious to Esther that something had happened to the Hunter she had wanted to create when she turned Alaric into an Original Vampire. There was no determination to kill in his eyes, he looked just like her children, a normal Original vampire. He was standing next to Finn and Sage, telling Esther that they were probably the ones training him.
"Hello mother, I trust that the last 2 weeks has been enjoyable for you?" Klaus asked her.
Esther hadn't realized that it had been only 2 weeks, it had felt like much longer but she wasn't about to let him know that. She wanted to do her best to hold on to her pride.
"Don't you look proud of yourself Niklaus… I know you think you've won but you're far from it. This isn't over." Esther replied.
"Yes it is Mother. You've failed. You lost." Elijah replied.
"Why am I here?" she asked them, changing the subject for now.
"You're not seriously telling us that you don't know why you're locked up in here, are you?" Kol asked back, rolling his eyes.
"You went after my children, Mother. That's something I can't forgive." Klaus informed her, fire in his eyes.
"These babies are going to be the end of you all! Tell them Finn, tell them what happened to our beloved Freya, what's going to happen to them all if her babies live." Esther pleaded.
"I already told them everything mother." Finn replied, keeping a cool face, not showing his emotions.
"And you're all still willing to risk your lives for her? For these unknown children?" Esther asked them.
"Esther, just because you didn't try to find a way out of it when your sister took Freya, it doesn't mean that we have to do the same thing. You accepted Dahlia's price for something that you could probably have done by yourself. We won't. We'll fight for my babies and they will live happily for their entire lives, with their family and friends by their side." Bella replied.
"You don't know anything you pathetic human!" Esther yelled.
"Don't talk to her that way!" Elijah exclaimed, at the same time as Klaus growled.
"Oh my, do I smell trouble between brothers? Haven't the two of you been there already? This will only end in blood and death." Esther replied with a smirk on her face.
"Bella isn't Tatia Mother." Rebekah intervened.
"Bella is my best friend, the woman I love and the mother of my children, I trust her completely. Elijah and her are just friends, good friends, and even some day they'll become best friends, but they are friends." Klaus added calmly while Elijah nodded his agreement with what his brother declared.
"To get back to the earlier subject, Esther, I do know that there are ways to protect my babies. We have a plan in case Dahlia comes after them." Bella replied before anyone could say anything about her friendship with Elijah.
"A plan? What kind of plan could you possibly have against my older, and much more powerful, sister?" Esther asked them.
"Is it safe to tell her?" Klaus asked Kol.
"Yes, Bonnie made it so only the people sharing her blood could enter, along with the ones she created. Even a powerful witch won't be able to come in or to read her mind from a distance. She's completely isolated from anyone that isn't us." Kol replied.
"But doesn't Dahlia share her blood? Could she come in here?" Bella asked him.
"No, we made sure of that. We placed a barrier blocking Dahlia and, if it's even possible, Freya. Don't worry, you can tell her the plan, we've got it all covered." Kol reassured her.
"Then I'll do the honors Mother and tell you what we'll do to protect our children." Klaus suggested.
"Please do Son, tell me how you're going to defeat such a powerful witch, one with a thousand years of experience behind her." Esther chuckled, thinking that there was no way he could have a solid plan.
"We defeated you, didn't we?" Kol replied with a smirk before anyone else could speak.
"She's much more powerful than I am and that I could ever be, let me remind you that she is the first born." Esther told him confidently.
"Have you ever heard of the Gemini Coven? No? Well, they're very powerful, probably because their leader merges with his twin to take power. Anyway, a few years ago, they created a prison on the other side, one where they locked one of their members that was too dangerous to allow him to merge with his twin sister. He doesn't have magic on his own, he can only take magic from someone else. What we plan to do is either send Dahlia over there with him or ask them to create a similar prison for her. Although, if she stays away from us and doesn't harm my children, we'll probably let her live her life or after life wherever she is, in peace." Klaus explained to his mother who paled as they spoke, realizing that they did, in fact, have a solid plan to take care of things.
"How are you even going to get such a powerful coven to help you?" Esther asked them.
"Sage and I are working on it. Don't worry, we're a powerful family and life in this world is all about making allies. They'll help us." Kol replied confidently.
"We will promise you one thing though mother, we'll do our best to free Freya's soul from Aunt Dahlia's hold, if she still has her. If there's a way for us to bring her back, we'll bring her here for a visit to you." Finn told his mother.
"You can't do this to me… I'm your mother, you can't leave me in here…" Esther pleaded.
"Tell you what, once the children are born and the situation with Dahlia is settled, once it's safe, we'll reconsider your punishment." Bella promised, her hormones pushing her to be nicer to this cruel woman.
"She tried to kill you Bella." Klaus argued, shaking his head.
"She acted horribly, yes. But she did it to protect all of you. Her actions were wrong, her plans horrible, but she did it out of love. I think that she does deserve a second chance, eventually and under severe conditions." Bella told him softly.
"Fine. We'll reconsider it later." Klaus sighted, surprising Esther.
"Don't leave me here, please!" Esther said when it became obvious that they were all done speaking and that they would roll the stone back in front of the entrance.
"Goodbye Mother." Klaus told her.
One by one, all of her children came in front of the door, telling her goodbye in their own ways before the stone was back in place and darkness overtook the cave once more, leaving Esther with nothing but time to think about her past actions, what she had done wrong and what she should have done instead.
Not many changes from the original version, what did you think?
I'm sorry for not updating like I used to, i'm at my mother's for the week (with my son) and I have less free time.
Lorelei Candice Black