2 Days Before the Sacrifice
"What are you watching?" Elijah asked as he entered the room.
Isabella didn't even glance at him. "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Elijah stared at her with a mixture of amusement and horror. "Why?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, what'd I have to lose?"
"Your dignity?" he offered.
She finally looked up at him. "I threw up on Klaus' shoes earlier. My dignity has gone the same way as those shoes: doused in bleach and then set on fire."
His gaze softened at her obvious upset and pain. Moving to kneel on the floor next to her, he cupped her face. "I'm sorry."
Isabella blinked back tears. "He was really nice about it- Klaus, I mean. I threw up on him and he was nice."
Elijah didn't know how to respond to that, so he stayed quiet and let her speak her mind.
"I just… I didn't expect to like him, but I do. He's so… alive." From the corner of his eye, Elijah saw Niklaus move into the doorway behind Isabella, but he didn't look away from her. "He's so alive that when you're near him, it's like you're coming to life too. Even when he's making you angry or sad, it's just so visceral that it's like you're being reborn into that emotion. And he doesn't seem like he's really happy or laughs a lot but when he does- and it's not for a gross reason- it feels like everything's amazing and a part of me really hates him for that." Isabella's voice broke as the tears finally began to streak down her face.
"Before he came, I had accepted things. I wasn't happy that I was dying or anything, but I was okay with it. But now I'm not." She finally looked at him and Elijah was able to see her heart breaking through her eyes. "I don't want to die, Elijah. I feel like I just found you and now I'm going to lose you. And I know it's stupid- I know that even if I were going to live that doesn't mean I'd be able to keep you all in my life- but I'm finally truly facing the fact that I'm going to die soon and I don't want to go. Klaus being so alive finally made me understand that I'm dying, and I want to hate him for that, but I can't because he's been so great to me and that makes me want to hate him even more."
Niklaus stepped fully into the room and moved to stand behind Elijah, meeting Isabella's startled gaze. "It's alright, love," he told her softly. "It's alright to be angry with the cards you've been dealt."
She looked between the two brothers. "It's not that I'm angry at the fact that my death will result in you breaking your curse because I'm not; if I wasn't a doppelganger then I wouldn't have met either of you, or Jonas and Luka. I just hate the fact that there's an ending in sight. That both of you are finally going to be free and I'm not." Her hand came up to wrap around Elijah's and she locked eyes with him again. "I wouldn't trade getting to know you for anything. You know that, right?"
The panic in her eyes made his chest ache. "It's not goodbye yet."
"I don't know what condition I'll be in tomorrow, so I wanted to get this out now. I don't regret anything, okay? Not even this ending. Sometimes, things happen because they need to, and I think this is one of them. Just, promise me something?"
There were so many things that he wanted to say to her then, but the words refused to come out and all he could do was nod.
"Promise you won't forget me?" she all but begged.
He could almost feel Niklaus tense beside him as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against her own, drowning in her beautiful, open eyes. "Never."
One Day Before the Sacrifice
"Make sure nothing is left behind," Klaus instructed his witches and the few vampires that had accompanied him to Mystic Falls. "We leave for Washington in a few hours."
As everyone scattered to complete their tasks, Greta stepped up to Klaus. "I need to speak with you."
Klaus frowned at her. "What?"
"I strongly believe that my brother and father may try to stop the ritual." Greta waited anxiously, sure that Klaus would become enraged at the thought of someone trying to stop him from achieving the goal that he'd spent a thousand years trying to reach.
To her surprise, however, Klaus' expression remained unchanged. "And what makes you believe that?" he asked calmly.
Clearly thrown, Greta fumbled with her words. "I… the way they watch her. They've clearly just tried to adopt her into the family or something."
The side of Klaus' lips lifted upwards. "Careful now, love. You're sounding a bit jealous."
Greta flinched. "No, I'm not. I have nothing to be jealous of. I chose to separate myself from them. Besides, she'll be dead tomorrow."
There was a light in Klaus' eyes, one that said he found something particularly amusing. "Yes, she will." Waving his hand at her, he said, "Worry not, little witch. Everything is under control."
Since they couldn't give Bella any vampire blood and their magic needed to be saved as much as possible for the coming ritual, Jonas had given Bella as much pain medication as he could. Considering how little time she had left, there was no need to be concerned about her becoming addicted, so he gave her as many doses as possible without causing her internal organs to shut down.
As a result, Bella was asleep for most of the day, slipping in and out of consciousness at random. When it came time to board the plane that would take them to Forks, Elijah carried her onto the plane and laid her down in the plush couch near the back of the cabin. He sat down beside her, seeming to automatically position himself in-between the unconscious girl and the rest of the plane's occupants. Luka and Jonas sat down near them.
Jonas opened up the grimoire containing the spell that would be used to break Klaus' curse and started rereading it. Luka, however, stared at Bella with a heart-wrenchingly sad expression. Even in sleep, Bella looked to be in pain. Her skin was flushed and coated in a thin layer of sweat, her brows were furrowed together, and she kept twisting around restlessly. Occasionally, they could hear her mutter several different names and she'd even said things in other languages once or twice.
Luka didn't want Bella to die. And, from the look on his face, Elijah didn't want her to die either. So, why were they doing this? Why not just take Bella and run? Klaus could still complete the sacrifice- Elena was still in Mystic Falls. It would have been way easier to just stay there and break the curse. Instead, they were all sitting on a plane heading towards Port Angeles, Katherine locked in the cargo hold along with some random, unconscious werewolf that Maddox had taken down before they left Mystic Falls.
Because she was going to die either way, Luka reminded himself. Even if she wasn't going to be sacrificed, the tumor would kill her sooner rather than later.
That didn't make it any less painful though.
Klaus sat across from the group, watching the way both Luka and Elijah stared at the brunette. If it weren't for the fact that she would be dead soon no matter what, Klaus would have worried about one of them doing a show of heroics. It was obvious they wouldn't though- they knew as well as he that it wouldn't do them any good.
Though, if they did find a way to revive her, Klaus wouldn't be as opposed to it as he was when Elijah originally tried to save Katerina.
Halfway through the flight, Isabella started to shake. For one heart-dropping moment, Elijah thought that she might be having another seizure. However, it quickly became apparent that she was actually having a nightmare.
"Λυπάμαι μαμά," he heard Isabella whispering. "Λυπάμαι πολύ."
"What is she saying?" Niklaus asked, sitting up straight in his seat and looking at Isabella with obvious curiosity.
"I have no idea," Elijah reluctantly admitted. While he was fluent in many languages, whatever tongue she was speaking in was unfamiliar to him.
Isabella was still speaking softly in her sleep. "Μου λείπεις. Θα σε βρω. Υπόσχομαι."
"What language is that?" Luka asked, frowning in concern at the brunette.
"I have no idea," Klaus responded, also seeming disconcerted.
The teen turned to look at his father. "Do you know what she's saying?"
The smell of tears suddenly filled the air and Elijah realized that Isabella was crying. "Θα σε βρω. Δεν θα τους αφήσω να σας κρατήσουν κλειδωμένους. Θα σας σώσω - υπόσχομαι."
Jonas studied Isabella with worried eyes. "I have no idea," he said. That was true for the most part, though he knew Elijah would be able to tell that he wasn't being fully honest. What he could understand of Bella's message was as confusing as it was worrisome.
I'm sorry, Mother. I'm so sorry.
Day of the Sacrifice
"There are shapeshifters in the area?" Elijah repeated, glancing over at Niklaus. "What exactly do you mean by shapeshifters?"
Jonas sighed. "Some of the boys in the local Native American tribe apparently have the ability to change into giant wolves at will. Long ago, the tribe shamans found a way to give some of the men in the tribe that gift so that they would be able to fight against the Cold Ones. The descendants of those men inherited that ability- which is triggered whenever there are Cold Ones close by."
"I thought the Cullen's had left the area," Luka said, having come back from checking on Bella while she slept in the hotel suite's master bedroom.
"They have," Maddox responded, arms crossed over his chest. "But a few others have come sniffing around. Can't be sure what they want, but we should probably assume that it might have something to do with the Cullen's."
"Isabella told us that she had a run-in with a group of nomads soon after meeting the Cullen's," Elijah broke in, brows furrowed in thought. "The Cullen's killed one of them, but not the other two."
"You think they're back for revenge?" Klaus asked, torn between amusement at the situation and anger at the possibility of an interference with his plans. "Bella really does have the worst luck, doesn't she?"
"Almost supernaturally bad," muttered Luka.
"We can put barriers up around the ritual site to keep them out," Jonas said, already moving to grab a grimoire. "Hopefully they won't be in our area. Bella was born at a hospital in the town over from Forks, which should be outside their territory."
"I doubt they even know that there is another kind of vampire," Klaus snorted. "They wouldn't know what to make of us even if they were to run across us."
"True," Elijah allowed, still seeming concerned. "But they might recognize Isabella's scent and that could... complicate matters."
A cry rang out across the suite. Bella was either having a nightmare, or she was in pain. Elijah stood to go check on her, but Klaus stopped him. "Allow me."
Striding out of the room, Klaus relished the air of shock coming from the group he'd left behind. Unless he was actually hurting someone, Klaus rarely liked to do anything that could get his hands dirty. However, he was willing to make an exception for the little doppelgänger.
When he walked into the room, Bella was curled up in a ball and clutching her head in her hands. An unwelcome pang of sympathy echoed in Klaus. With Katerina, Klaus had only concerned himself with the girl far enough to ensure that she remained safe and close by for once he had regained the moonstone. Even though Elijah hadn't been able to see it himself, Klaus had always known just what kind of girl Katerina Petrova was. But Bella, Bella was the opposite. Loyal through and through- a woman of her word. When Bella agreed to do something then she would do everything in her power to follow through- very much like his brother in that regard.
If killing her now hadn't been the kinder option, Klaus knew that he would have left her alive and just killed the Petrova doppelgänger instead.
Moving to Bella's side, Klaus softly asked, "Alright there, love?"
Bella didn't respond, seemingly in too much pain to even speak. Reaching into the bag beside the bed, Klaus pulled out a small container of morphine and a needle. Inserting the needle through the cap the way Greta's father had shown them, he filled the gauge and then reached out and pulled Bella's hand away from her head. The crease in her elbow was spotted with small bruises, signs of the previous times in the last few days that she had been given a dose of morphine to help ease her discomfort.
Carefully sliding the needle in, Klaus pushed the liquid into Bella's bloodstream. It seemed to be only moments later that her whole body relaxed, and she finally raised her head up high enough to look at him. "Klaus?" she croaked.
"Right here," he reassured her, brushing his fingers over her arm.
" 'gotta promise me," muttered Bella, eyes hazy. Her voice was so quiet that, if he hadn't been right next to her, he wouldn't have been able to hear a word she said.
His brow furrowed. "Promise you what?"
"Don't..." she trailed off, her head swaying for a moment before she laid back down. "Don't let him do anything stupid."
Klaus wasn't sure what she was talking about. "Don't let who? Who do you think will do something stupid? The boy?"
Bella shook her head and sighed. "Elijah. Elijah will be stupid once he knows. Promise you won't let him do something reckless."
Blinking down at her, Klaus felt like he was at a loss for words. "Such concern for a man who set you up to die."
"He's just following the path he was set on," Bella whispered weakly. "We all are. Promise me?"
With a sigh, Klaus vowed, "I promise."
Stepping out of the room, Klaus was immediately confronted by a concerned Luka. "She okay?"
"She's fine," the Original answered him shortly before turning to look at everyone in the rest of the room. "Elijah and I will be going out for a bit. Maddox, keep a close eye on Katherine. Feel free to use as much force as you like to keep her here. Greta, you're in charge of the werewolf." Looking over at Elijah's warlocks, he raised an eyebrow and stated, "Keep an eye on Bella."
Jonas nodded. "Of course."
Meeting Greta's eyes, Klaus warned, "They are the only two allowed near Bella. If I hear anything different, I'll be most displeased." When he was sure that the witch had understood his warning, Klaus turned and gestured for Elijah to precede him out of the room.
Once they were out of the hotel, Klaus led the way out of town and to the field they would be performing the ritual in.
"What is this about, Niklaus?" Elijah inquired once they had stopped.
"Why Bella?" Klaus asked without preamble. "Why not Elena?"
Elijah's face shuttered. "Does it really matter now?"
"I know you, Brother- better than you know yourself. That honor you care so much about wouldn't allow you to just find me a doppelgänger to kill without some sort of plan to save them. Just like with Katerina, I'm sure you found some way to ensure the doppelgänger's survival. Yet, you chose to use Bella instead of Elena even before you knew about her brain tumor. At first, I thought it was sentiment but, after watching the expression on your face when you look at Katerina, I know that you don't care for her any longer. So, what made you decide that Bella would be the one you offered to me instead of Elena?"
Frowning, Elijah turned away from his brother and looked blankly out over the forest. "I have no idea," he finally admitted softly.
It was the exact answer that Klaus was expecting. "Was there ever even another option for you? After you met Bella, heard her story and got to know what she was like for yourself, was there any other option for you other than to use her? Because I don't. I know that it would be much more enjoyable to kill little Elena Gilbert along with Katherine than it would be to kill Bella. Yet, in my mind, it's as though killing Bella is the only option I have. And while normally that would send me into quite the fit of rage, I find I don't really care. I'm fine with killing Bella because I'm interested to see what happens afterwards."
Klaus could hear his brother's teeth clench. "You believe there is another force at work here?"
"You disagree?" Klaus countered. "Can you really say that the thought never occurred to you? When she speaks of things like fate and 'following the path we're set on', do you never wonder just what she's referring to? Never wondered if there was someone else out there pulling the strings and manipulating us into achieving their goals?"
Elijah's hands clenched by his side as he admitted, "I believe Isabella is something more than a traditional doppelgänger. The reason she knows Kol is because she met him once, almost 600 years ago. Though, at the time, her name was Hannah."
Even though Klaus knew there was something different about Bella, he never would have guessed that. "She isn't the exact copy of an ancestor then- she's the same person being born over and over again?"
"Yes," his brother hissed, expression torn. "The Martin's believe that they are just memories passed down in her bloodline from her ancestors as a form of protection- one that Elena wouldn't have because Katerina lives and therefore is a knot of sorts in the line- but I am not as sure that they're right. Regardless, from what little I've managed to learn from Isabella, in every life she remembers, she dies in some horridly painful way."
Thinking for a moment, Klaus slowly asked, "Before Katerina- in England- when Kol suddenly seemed to become savage-"
"She died," his brother cut him off. "Beaten to death on her wedding night. Kol tried to save her but…"
It was silent for a long moment as both Originals were lost in their own thoughts. "You know," Klaus finally murmured. "I raged against the idea of you saving Katerina. She was a vain, vapid girl who didn't deserve your attentions. However, if you were hypothetically able to save this doppelgänger, well, I might find myself less opposed to the notion."
Night of the Sacrifice
When they arrived at the spot that the Maddox and Greta had chosen for the ritual, Elijah carefully lifted Isabella out of the car. She had remained unconscious during the drive out of town but began to stir as he carried her across the field.
"Elijah?" she murmured.
"I'm here," he reassured her softly.
"Is it time?"
Elijah's grip tightened on her infinitesimally. "It is."
Bella forced her head to shift enough that she could clearly see Elijah's face. "Please don't."
"Don't what?" Reaching the circle where Isabella was supposed to be placed, Elijah hesitated for a moment before kneeling down and settling on the ground, Isabella still in arms. Greta seemed to want to protest but Klaus stopped her with a warning look.
"You have the look- like you're teetering on the edge. Kol had the same look right before he snapped."
Staring down in Isabella's hazy eyes, Elijah softly prodded, "What was my brother to you, Isabella?"
"He…" she trailed off, seeming almost lost. "He was my other half- my twin in all but blood. He's family- we're Always and Forever."
His breath caught in his throat. Always and Forever- the promise that Kol had never been a part of. They had excluded him, deemed him unimportant, and now he was gone. If he was that close to Isabella, then it was no wonder that he had gone rogue. He had lost someone he loved and who had loved him in the way that they hadn't been able to and they hadn't even noticed. Kol had been in pain and they…
They had thought him to be a nuisance.
"When you see Kol," Isabella pulled him from his thoughts. "Tell him I'm sorry for everything. That I love and miss him. Tell him I'm sorry I'm the reason we lost Always and Forever."
Elijah stared at her in anguished confusion. She would see Kol before he would- Isabella would be able to tell him that herself. Unless…
Circles of fire suddenly appeared in the clearing, surrounding the werewolf Jules, Katerina, and Elijah and Isabella. Elijah could hear Jules awaken and the charm surrounding Katerina broke. She started shouting loudly as Jules groaned in the background, her body in anguish at being unable to change.
"Elijah!" Katerina screamed. "Elijah, please!"
He continued to stare at Isabella's face, ignoring Katerina completely. "Is he alive?" Elijah breathed, daring to hope.
Isabella didn't answer, just continued to stare at Elijah. "It's going to be okay," she tried to reassure him but, if anything, her words just seemed to hurt him more.
In the background, Elijah could hear Jules' body falling to the ground and then a squishing sound as her heart was removed and drained into the bowl holding the moonstone.
As Klaus moved to go to Katerina next, Elijah could hear him taunting her. "500 years of running and yet here you are, ending up in the exact position you tried so hard to avoid. Except, this time, there's no one attempting to save you. Funny how things turn out."
"Isabella," Elijah repeated, tone urgent. "Is Kol alive? Are my siblings alright?"
"I..." she trailed off, blank eyes staring at something past him. "I don't..."
Katerina abruptly went silent. "Isabella."
"It wasn't supposed to turn out this way," Isabella finally whispered. "This wasn't supposed to be how it ended. I managed to escape three times now. She must be so angry."
When she speaks of things like fate and 'following the path we're set on', do you never wonder just what she's referring to? Never wondered if there was someone else out there pulling the strings and manipulating us into achieving their goals?
"Who is she?" Elijah demanded, even as the fire around them died down and Klaus stepped forward. "Who's doing this?"
Isabella shook her head, eyes clouded and confused. "Will you tell him?" she asked. "Do you promise?"
"It's time," his brother told him, voice unexpectedly solemn.
Elijah almost ignored him, considered just taking Isabella and running, but he knew that would be a selfish action. She was in pain. She was dying. He refused to prolong her suffering in order for him to get what he wanted. Especially when there was another way to find out.
Setting her down on the ground, Elijah forced himself to step away. Turning to walk out of the circle, Elijah stopped in front of Niklaus. "Our family- did you lie?"
His brother studied him for a long moment before finally answering, "Yes."
A wave of emotions washed over Elijah. Joy at the realization that his siblings were not lost to him, rage that Niklaus had lied to him and hidden away their family, but, more than all that, he felt a deep sea of pain for Isabella. Isabella, who loved his brother Kol so much, who suffered from so much guilt and regret. And who never got the chance to say goodbye.
Klaus stepped around him, walking over to Isabella. "Hello, love."
"Hi, Klaus," she whispered.
He helped her up, carrying over to the alter where Greta, Jonas, and Luka were chanting and setting her on her feet. Klaus leaned her back so that most of her weight was resting on him. "Are you ready?"
She let out a raspy laugh. "Born ready."
"Close your eyes," he murmured into her ear. "It'll be as quick and easy as falling asleep. You'll barely feel a thing. I promise."
The last thing Bella saw was the pained look on Elijah's face. The last thing she felt was Klaus' fangs sinking into her neck.
He was right- it didn't hurt.
(A/N): BEFORE YOU START ATTACKING ME take a look at the story status. This story is NOT complete. It's not even close to being over. So put back your pitchforks and settle down.
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! I hope you all are doing well and staying safe i.e. social distancing. Wear a mask and stay six feet back people!
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This chapter was betaed by the lovely sailorxbloom. She's amazing and spectacular and a host of other positive adjectives and deserves all the hugs!
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