Kol Mikaelson and the Unexpected

Chapter 40

Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries or its characters.

Sorry, this chapter is shorter than the last few have been. I hope y'all still enjoy it.

Niklaus 'Klausy' Mikaelson POV:

I wake up feeling as though there was an emergency, like being asleep was dangerous. Alarm bells ring in my mind. My heart thuds loudly in my ears, and there's a buzz in my brain. The first thing I'm aware of is the feel of the cold, hard floor. It was jarring. I was standing on the carpet, wasn't I?

Sounds came flooding in next – music of all sorts, people walking and chattering, occasional tires skidding, and an abundance of honking. Instantly, I realized I was in a city much busier than the last. My eyes opened groggily. Other than a sleeping Lissa, the only thing in the room were coffins lined against the walls. They gleam in the fluorescent light.

My nose wrinkles in disgust, "Oh, ugh. Creepy."

There was nothing dead in them that I could smell, and my sense of smell was fantastic. Even though there were no heartbeats, something in me knew they weren't empty. I was opening the nearest coffin between one blink and the next. An instinct told me I should recognize these. It was important. I had to know why.

I drew back at the sight that awaited me, "What the—"

A man was lying inside, surrounded by a white cushion. He had a sharply featured face and long brown hair. His skin was grey, with thick, ugly veins protruding out of every exposed inch. The cause of which must be that knife sticking out of his chest.

No, not a knife. A dagger.

"I did this," I gasp in horrified realization. Kol said I daggered him. There can't be many supernatural creatures that this happens to, can there? "I'm so sorry. Can you hear me? Or is it like sleeping?"

No response, although I hadn't expected one. Lord knows how long the poor thing's been in here. If he's stuck, unable to move, I hope it's only like sleeping. How painful would it be otherwise? I hardly want to think about it.

"Kael says I can be different," I tell the – hopefully – sleeping man. "I will be. I'll do better."

I know there was another me running around right now, which was weird. Best not to think too much about it. He'll be angry when I do what I'm about to. The thing was, though, I didn't care. Maybe when I wake them up, this timeline can be better than the one I'm going back to? Kol said any difference I make here would branch off into its own alternate reality. I better make the most of it then.

I move quickly, taking the dagger out of his chest, putting it in the inner pocket of his super old-looking jacket, and moving to the next coffin.

"Kol," I breathe.

Kol's hair was much longer than I was used to seeing it. The way he was dressed up made me think I might've daggered him at a party. My heart lurches in my chest; I hate looking at his skin grey like that. He looks dead. After a moment of staring, I un-dagger him, delicately slide it inside his suit jacket, and move on.

Inside the third one was a teenage girl. On the older side, though, maybe 18. She looks close in age with Kol. She has a white and silver dress with thin straps; it shimmers when the light hits it. Her light blonde hair spreads around her face on the cushion. The pearl necklace she had on was so long it nearly reached where her hands were clasped together over her stomach.

She looks like an angel – albeit a dead one.

"Rebekah," I murmur. It must be. "I don't remember you, but I'm sorry."

The next coffin was empty. As much as I hate to admit it, that one has to be for Elijah. At least he wasn't inside. However, the last one won't open, no matter how hard I try.

"Spelled shut," My eyes study the last coffin suspiciously. "Why? What do I have in here?"

A single heartbeat drew my attention back to the first coffin. I rushed over to look, and his skin was slowly starting to clear up. The grey is fading back into a light complexion. His heart sluggishly struggled to start up again. I watched, mesmerized until his eyes snapped open. I yelp, startled, and jerk away. His dark brown eyes look up at me, pained and confused. His hands were still grey, though, and he didn't move to do anything else.

"Did you hear me?" I ask. "Before, when I was talking to you, I mean."

The pain in his eyes melts into rage; the color bleeds into black and red, "Yes."

His voice is hoarse, and he struggles to get that one small word out. I expected my siblings to jump up and be okay. I took the dagger out; why was it taking so long for their bodies to heal? What did those daggers do to them exactly?

"I'm sorry," I repeat. His vampiric eyes flash dangerously, telling me I was not forgiven. "I wish I could stay and make it up to you somehow if that's even possible, but I'm not from here. I'll be leaving soon, and I need to get Lissa somewhere safe until then. Your dagger is in your pocket. Keep it safe, okay? Don't let the other me take it from you."

"I. Loath. You." My brother forces out through bared fangs.

It hurt to hear.

He struggles a moment longer to finish with, "I. Will. Find. You."

I clear my throat and blink rapidly to keep tears at bay. "I deserve it. There's another me who remembers doing this; he's the one you want. It'll feel better hurting him. Be safe."

I turn to Lissa and our notebook with pictures tapped inside lying next to her on the floor to pick them up. Her head lolled lifelessly, but her heartbeat was steady, so I didn't worry. My brother's leg twitches in his coffin, and Rebekah's heart gives a single beat. It was my cue to hurry.

Kael Mikaelson's POV:

"What do you mean he's gone?"

"I MEANT WHAT I SAID!" I spit into the phone. "Stop screaming and help me look!"

"Fucking useless!" Kol snarls and hangs up.

I want to leap from my skin and into the ether – rip myself apart and take everyone within a 10-mile radius with me. It's only been over 15 minutes since I've returned cabin and found Nik missing. His letter had panic settling into my bones instantly. If he left as soon as I was out of range, that means he's been gone around 45 minutes total. Too long of a head start for my comfort. I searched the whole town. It felt like I was a boy again, trembling and afraid. The constricted feelings intensify as if the air itself is strangling me.

He can't be gone. Not again.

We'll find him.

It's going to be fine.

It's not too late.

Images of Nik and Henrik's mangled bodies flash through my mind. When we lost them, everything went from bad to worse. It's been centuries since I thought about my dead brothers. Niklaus cannot just waltz back into our lives and then LEAVE US! He is not allowed to dredge up old trauma and abandon us soon thereafter. We'll get him back, no matter what it takes.

Damon Salvatore is going to pay for this.