Elijah waited until Klaus left later that night to enter his new mansion. Although it was newly built, it was made to look older, refined. Elijah had to admit it was beautiful. He hoped he didn't have to burn it down in order to find his lost siblings. There was a tall wall enclosing the property that was difficult to get over, but with his supernatural powers, few things could stop him.
It wasn't hard to jimmy the locks on a large window off to the side of the kitchen. He was surprised to find that it was a bedroom. It wasn't large, but it was luxurious with fine furniture and a deep, soft carpet. He felt enveloped in a womb. With the Power being stronger at night, he sensed someone of great power near. Elijah vamped to the bathroom and gazed at the mirror through a crack in the door. The lights were off, but he saw a woman bathing by candlelight in a marble bathtub. He smelled roses and some other spice he couldn't identify. God, she was stunning and his breath caught in his throat. At the second he saw her, she saw him. The mirror that he gazed into cracked. He started to collapse as the room closed in on him. She stood revealing her body, covered in bubbles.
"You dare to invade this house, Vampire! Do you not know my master? He shall kill you slowly and I shall watch," the beauty promised.
"Phasmatos Somnus, Ad somnum, Dormi cito, Molles somnos, somno iam,
Somnia, Tenebris somnum," Nicole chanted as her eyes rolled back in her head.
Nicole gasped when she recognized the man on the floor as the same one who delivered that hideous fountain. Mon dieu!
As she went to put on her robe and call Klaus, she saw two more shadowy figures leap into the room.
Witches! As she went to raise her arms, she herself fell into a dreamless sleep.
Several minutes later, Nadir and Sule had roused Elijah from his slumber by reversing the sleeping spell. He thanked them and instructed them to watch the witch who knocked him out. He didn't anticipate any more trouble.
Elijah vamped to the kitchen area. He knew he didn't have a lot of time. There should be some master panel or code for a crypt. He knew that Klaus liked to either hide the coffins in plain site or in an underground room. Elijah checked around the fireplace and bookshelves for hidden passages, it was always something that worked in movies. Nothing here, though. They had actually had a palace once that had several such features.
Elijah tuned his hearing to scan for sounds outside. Then, he heard heartbeats. Others were in the house, he heard a thump.
"Let's see how you like to be tickled, asshole," he heard someone say.
"Stop, fuck. Okay, Jer, you win," a boy laughed, "let me up."
Elijah vamped upstairs and opened the door. He saw two teenagers wrestling on the floor. They must have broken a lamp and books were strewn across the floor.
"What do we have here?" Elijah said causally.
"Who the fuck on you?" a dark haired boy yelled.
"Tsk. Tsk. What course language. I'm surprised my brother allows his servants to behave so indecorously," Elijah muttered.
"Servants? We're not servants," Jeremy piped up. "Who the hell are you?"
"If not servants, who are you?" Elijah said, now closer and staring into both their eyes.
"We're his sons," Tyler answered under the compulsion.
"Sons?" Elijah was surprised. His brother moved quickly.
"Aren't you the Lockwood heir?" Elijah questioned further.
"Yes, but my mother signed me over to Klaus," he said still under compulsion.
"Why would she do such a thing?" Elijah was wasting time, but he was curious.
"I have a violent temper and she's afraid of me," Tyler said robotically.
"A pity. Now, tell me if you know where my other siblings are located," Elijah asked slowly.
"We don't know," Jeremy revealed.
"They would be in coffins or a tomb. Do you know of any secret locations that Klaus has on the property?" he continued.
"Yes, we found it today. It's by the woods," Tyler answered.
"Take me there. And quickly," Elijah commanded.
Twenty minutes later, Elijah could finally breath again. He found them.
Tyler told him that the one coffin was empty. Elijah mused that that was probably reserved for him.
One had the bones of Mother, almost dust. He found Finn and quickly closed that one. Then, he found Rebekah and immediately pulled out the dagger in her heard.
He glanced at the boys in front of him and was tempted to let her feed off them, but then thought better of it and pricked his finger. As the drop of his ancient blood touched her lips, she began to revive.
Klaus was meeting with contacts in a bar outside of town. He wanted to arrange for a coven to cloak the coffins of his rebellious siblings in his new house. Nicole could not do such strong magic as she was no longer anchored. He had considered letting her use him. But then she would know all. The way he had strangled his mother, fled from his father, slaughtered Kings and Popes, and bedded a thousand tavern wenches. The thing he really wanted to hide was the fear in his heart of being alone. That was the one thing that trumped all others. The painful feeling that everyone would leave him in the end.
The meeting didn't go well. The coven wanted a vial of his blood and he wasn't willing to risk that. He would try another way to get what he wanted. He arrived home and went to speak with Nicole. She told him she would wait up for him.
He smelled the other witches before seeing them hovering over Nicole's form.
"How dare you?" he said, ripping the man's head off in a rage.
The other went to raise his hands in fear, but Klaus caught him.
"What brings you here, Witch? Speak and I will kill you quickly," Klaus growled.
Before Klaus sunk his teeth in the man's throat to rip it out, he had him revive Nicole and tell him his brother's plans. Klaus knew exactly where to go. He put an exhausted and spent Nicole carefully in her bed and vamped to the underground tomb.
"Hello, Brother. I see you..." Klaus started, relieved to see the boys unharmed, but alarmed to see Rebekah.
She vamped over and slapped him hard across the face.
"Nik, you bastard, how could you? What year is it? Where am I? Elijah, what is going on?" Rebekah sputtered in rage.
She lifted her hand to slap him again, but this time Elijah caught her hand.
"Sister, I have only recently found out what Niklaus has been up to. I shall fill you in shortly. However, I have some questions of my own," Elijah interrupted.
"Elijah, I can explain. I heard you wanted to kill me. I fled and decided to start my own family. Please meet my sons, Tyler and Jeremy. This is your Uncle Elijah and your Aunt Rebekah," Klaus said hoping he could smooth things over somewhat.
"Charmed, I'm sure," Rebekah muttered. "I'm thirsty, Nik. I need a drink. Please."
She was eyeing the boys hungrily.
Elijah stepped forward and said, "I've already met your sons, Niklaus. They brought me to this very tomb so I believe I owe them a debt of gratitude."
It was Klaus' turn to be surprised, "What? I'm sure you are mistaken, Brother. I had this tomb well hidden. Boys, would you like to explain?"
"He compelled us, we didn't want to tell him," Tyler spoke up. A little nervous at how Rebekah was eyeballing them like a pizza.
"We stumbled on the door today. We were going to tell you, but..." Jeremy said in a low voice.
"But...what? I knew something was amiss, but... we shall deal with this later. Now, I must speak to my siblings. Go to bed," Klaus said firmly.
"Dad, we're sorry," Jeremy said weakly.
"Boys, I said go to bed. Don't make me repeat myself," Klaus said looking at the door. He was not even angry, just disappointed.
The boys trudged back to their rooms silently.
Rebekah said, "What about Kol? Is he to stay daggered as long as dull, old Finn?"
Klaus said, "Could we let him slumber a while longer? I already have two disobedient sons to deal with, I can't deal with a third."
Elijah nodded, "I agree. Let's go back to the house to talk. I'm afraid my witches put your witch to sleep. I'll have them revive her, she's quite a beauty."
Klaus said, "Oh, I killed your witches. I'll consider that the penalty for you invading my home."
"Oh Niklaus, kill first, ask questions later. I guess some things never change," Elijah mused taking Rebekah's elbow and escorting her out.
Back at the house, a tired Nicole had to invite Rebekah in as she held the deed to the house in her name. She did make Klaus get rid of the severed head and bodies. He promised to have her rugs replaced as soon as possible. She made tea and then excused herself to go back to bed.
"She is a lovely thing, Nik, I hope she knows how you destroy everyone around you," Rebekah said sipping on a blood bag from Klaus' reserve.
"Actually, she is the finest cook I've ever had. Don't even think of draining her, Love," Klaus smiled coyly.
"Oh, finest cook, eh? Is that what they call it now?" Rebekah smirked.
The siblings talked long into the night.
Klaus admitted abandoning his plan to break the curse and create an army of hybrids.
"All I want is to raise my sons in peace, with you all at my side. I built this house for all of us. You all have quarters here, even Finn. I know I have wronged you in the past. I swear to make it up to you in the future, if you will allow me," Klaus pleaded.
"This is a beautiful property, Niklaus. I am glad to hear that you are dropping the curse. I must ask you for possession of the daggers. You have promised before to not use them and then you have broken that promise. Why should be trust you again?" Elijah asked.
"You shouldn't. You should probably have never come here, yet here you are. I want us together. I've found a new life in my boys. I want them to know their family. Would you help me?"
Rebekah and Elijah looked at each other. There was only one answer to give and then said it in unison, "Always and forever."
***
Klaus showed Elijah to his quarters. There were not completed yet. But the gargoyle fountain was set up on the balcony. Elijah laughed when he saw it and grasped Niklaus by the arm. The years melted away and he felt pride that his brother seemed to be shaping up.
"Perhaps, we can make it work this time?" he said to Klaus.
"Only with your help, Brother. I cannot lose another son. You know I mourn for Marcel each day," Klaus admitted.
"As do we all," Rebekah said sadly.
Rebekah could not hide her delight in her quarters. She had a dayroom and a very large closet with a rotating shoe rack.
"I love it, Nik," she said hugging him.
"Does this mean you aren't still angry?" Klaus said hopefully.
"Oh no, I'm going to hold a grudge for a good long time. But I'm sorry about calling you a bastard. You know, I hate it when Kol does that," she said softly.
"Well, I shall spare you the trip over my knee he gets when he says it," Klaus smiled.
"Frankly, I think those boys of your need a good bottom warming for traipsing around in my tomb doing God knows what," Rebekah advised.
"Indeed, Sister. I have been far too lenient with them. Lesson learned," Klaus replied.
"Well, you have a forest of switches out there that may teach them to mind their papa'. Now leave, I need a bath. I will assume you have clothes in the drawers for me," Rebekah spouted.
"Of course," Klaus said, kissing his younger sister on the cheek.
His mind was already on how he was going to deal with his boys.
Klaus slept deeply until late in the afternoon. Elijah was already up, managing the household. Klaus realized how much he missed Elijah's organizational skills.
"Morning, Brother. I apologize for my late hour," Klaus said as he smooth back his blond hair.
"Nonsense, yesterday, was quite a day. I have been rather busy these months trying to find you. It is a relief that you have come to your senses," Elijah said pleasantly.
"Elijah, I have not been myself since New Orleans. To have been a father and then not one, was more than I could bear. Yet I have found new life here. Speaking of, where are those young whelps that I need to have a word with?" Klaus asked looking around.
"You need not explain any further, Brother. Let us put our follies from the past away and look toward a new future. Your boys seemed glum and I believe they are in their rooms," Elijah offered.
"Did you send them there? Or did they..." Klaus wondered.
"No, I believe they sent themselves there. I believe they are waiting for you to correct them for their lapse of judgment," Elijah counseled.
"Oh Elijah, I have been soft on them. I am afraid if I am too harsh with them that they will hate me. It's harder to do this than I remembered with Marcel," Klaus admitted.
"Brother, you must enforce limited or children feel out of control and unloved. But it is also important to find out why they didn't tell you the truth. Talk to them and then decide on a plan of action. I'm here if you need me," Elijah said feeling for Niklaus' plight. He always doubted himself when it came to matters such as this.
Klaus knocked and watched into Jeremy's room to find the boys sprawled out aimlessly watching tv in silence.
"Boys," Klaus said as way of greeting. The pitiful looks he got almost made him change his mind.
"Hey, everything is alright. My siblings are here. They have forgiven me, as I have already forgiven you. You were compelled," Klaus offered.
"Yeah, but we lied to you. You gave us no reason not to trust you and we still lied," Tyler admitted.
"Were you afraid you were in trouble for prying open the door?" Klaus asked carefully.
Jeremy nodded, "I think so. At first we thought we had found something new and then when we realized we shouldn't be in there, we just panicked."
"Hiding things, lying, and hoping they go away never really works. If we don't learn to trust each other, this isn't going to work," Klaus said looking at each teen.
"I thought about confining you to your rooms for a week, but during the summer, that seems cruel. But we do need a severe consequence to make sure that you tell me the truth next time?" Klaus started.
"Are you going to use a belt on us or something?" Jeremy asked fearfully. He'd remembered what Tyler told him about it. It sounded like the worst.
"Your new aunt thinks you deserve a switching, but I think I have something that works equally well," Klaus said slipping the hairbrush from his coat pocket.
Both boys got wide-eyed and looked at each other nervously.
"Jeremy, you are first this time. Tyler, you can take off your pants and go stand in the corner. Jeremy, come here," Klaus ordered.
He pulled a wooden desk chair forward. He braced his left knee on the bed to lift the boy a bit higher up. This would not allow him any leverage to try to get up.
Without speaking, Klaus lowered Jeremy's shorts and boxers. He guided him over his outstretched knee.
"Relax your cheeks. Clenching is going to make it worse," Klaus said firmly. He rested his hand on the boy's white backside and brought the flat of his hand down hard. Jeremy's legs twitched and Klaus followed up with a series of hard smacks. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.
Jeremy was holding onto Klaus' leg and trying to bite his lips to keep from crying out.
"I'm warming your backside up for the brush. It's really going to sting, but I hope you learn a lesson from it," Klaus shared.
Jeremy couldn't help but trying to rock his hips away from the spanks. They were hard and he never could anticipate where the next whack would land. After a minute or two of hand spanking, Jeremy was starting to kick out his legs. They were not reaching the floor and he was kicking in the air. His face colored at the sight he must be making. He was grateful that Tyler was watching him get spanked because he was already starting to cry and moan.
Klaus clamped his right leg over Jeremy's kicking legs and tightened his left arm to hold the teen steady. Picking up the heavy wooden hairbrush, Klaus brought it down hard five times in the same places on Jeremy's right cheek, he did the same on his left.
At this point, Jeremy was bucking and howling as Klaus paddled him even lower on his sit spots. He popped him five times in the same spot and moved to the next check.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
"Please, Daddy, stop. I'm sorry. I will never lie again," Jeremy wailed and howled as the intensity of the spanking picked up. Klaus wasn't sure how many whacks he had doled out, but he vowed not to stop until the boy was properly chastised.
"No, you won't, young man," Klaus said, now targeting the area of the thighs. Even with his legs pins and an arm across his back, Jeremy was still jerking and thrashing. Klaus stopped and rubbed his back for a minute. Then, he applied the hair brush to the inner thigh area for a few sharp cracks. Jeremy's hands flew back and Klaus caught them.
He gave the boy ten of the hardest swats to the center of his backside as the boy screamed himself hoarse. As Klaus thought he saw oval shaped bruises form, he stopped. He'd bring up some arnica cream later.
He dropped the brush and brought the hysterical Jeremy up to cuddle him. It took a few minutes to calm him down. The teen seemed in no state to talk. He helped Jeremy get in the bed on his stomach.
Tyler looked like he was facing his execution as he marched over. Klaus grabbed him and said, "I'm doing this because I love you. You're going to be okay." He smacked his bare behind hard for a solid minute as a warm up for the wooden implement.
Klaus steeled himself to paddle Tyler just as firmly with the brush. As usual, Tyler seemed to hold out longer, but eventually the swats caused him to wail just as hard. Each spanking only lasted a few minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. When Klaus saw the start of oval bruises on Tyler's behind, he stopped and cradled him in his arms, too. Tyler sobbed that he was sorry and Klaus believed him. Like Jeremy, he laid Tyler out on his stomach to nap.
"I want both of you to get some sleep. If I catch you up, except for the bathroom, before I get up, you will go back over my knee. I love both of you, always and forever," Klaus said wiping tears from his own eyes.