Klaus was with the hunter when the three of us arrived at the mansion, and I saw the guy strung up on a torture table that looked like it had been kept in storage for a couple centuries before being dusted off for this special occasion. I kinda felt bad for the guy, he didn't look so good. "Welcome home, sister."
"Is this a trick?" Bekah demanded, frowning at the rather well made hunter with his sculpted sinews and muscle form. Not bad on the eyes, if I'm honest. "How do you know he's one of the Five? Where's his bloody tattoo?"
"Oh, the tattoos aren't visible on this lot like they were on the last." He supplied cheerfully before suggesting we all sit down to eat. He practically bounced like a giddy schoolboy, pausing by me in order to peck my forehead with a kiss which I hadn't been expecting. It made me jolt, like waking up suddenly from sleep before I then frowned at him with wary suspicion as he smirked at me.
"What are you up to?"
"Just easing the tension in the room, or trying to at least. Come on love, join me for dinner?" Offering me his arm I looked at it with a quirk of my eyebrow before looking back at him. Is he for real? What's gotten into him today? He was so chipper it made me wonder what had put him into such a good mood and whether or not maiming and torture had been responsible, because let's be honest. He still had that sadistic streak about him.
"Food sounds great. Coming Bekah?" Ignoring his offered arm, I extended my elbow for Rebekah in order to be the gentleman, making her smirk smugly at her brother before she delicately slipped her hand onto my arm in order to let me lead her into the smaller dining room where I could already smell food being set up. Four dinner settings were quickly put together with the compelled staff waiting on us with dreamy looks in their eyes, slightly unfocused but completing their tasks with a clean efficiency. I sat between Bekah and Klaus directly opposite Stefan, the spread of food making my mouth water expectantly.
"Thank you, my lovely." Klaus said to one of his girls who finished bringing the plate of food out before leaving us. "I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town. They made my life so much easier." Okay, I'll admit, the food looks and smells amazing and I was too hungry to care about the tension in the air and was already tucking in. "Rebekah love, eat your veggies." I almost snorted, glancing over at Klaus. Who did he think he was? Her dad?
"I'm not eating until you apologise." She told him flatly, refusing to even touch the cutlery and I wondered if maybe I shouldn't be pigging out since only Klaus and I were the ones eating. Stefan looked piqued and Rebekah seemed like she was considering whether or not she could get away with ripping out her brother's throat.
"For which indiscretion? There have been so many."
"Maybe don't sound so proud about the fact." I suggested, shooting Klaus a look before returning to the food.
"You broke my neck." Rebekah reminded Klaus who quickly lost his smirk.
"You threw away Elena's blood so I can't make any more hybrids." Ugh, they literally sounded like bickering kids squabbling over a toy they didn't want to share.
"Because you took me for granted!"
"That's what big brothers do, sweetheart!" Well the terms of endearments really weren't helping his case here. Seriously, it's like Klaus enjoyed digging a lonely hole for himself. Stefan looked about as enthused about the sibling's spat as I was, his food remaining untouched before him.
"Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now." He commented, leaning back in his chair as I turned to him.
"What? My glowing company isn't enough for you? I'm hurt, pretty boy. You should take care with a lady's tender feelings." Giving me a dry look, I grinned at him in return as Klaus deliberated over an apology before finally conceding.
"Alright, fine. I'm sorry." He started, looking at Rebekah as she awaited his apology, which to be honest didn't sound all that sincere to me. "I often forget how delicate you are." I kicked him underneath the table, making him jolt slightly. "Forgive me?" Eying him coldly, Rebekah eventually decided to take it under consideration. It's progress, and it's better than nothing at the very least.
"Weren't we going to talk about these mysterious hunters you guys seem to know about?" I interjected, figuring we should probably get back on topic until Klaus provoked Rebekah into some kind of bloody and violent reaction.
"Right, Alexander." Klaus remembered, sitting upright in his chair as he looked at each of us in turn with a smooth smirk. "Nice chap, forgoing the obvious issues. He was looking for creatures of the night, which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings. We invited him to dine with us on many occasion, where we inquired after his little order of merry men who were created by a dying witch to kill vampires. He made mention of a weapon, an ultimate weapon, one that would ensure the destruction of all vampire-kind."
"So that's what this is about?" Stefan frowned, his brow furrowing sceptically. "A weapon?"
"Not just any weapon." Rebekah answered and made to explain further but Klaus stopped her as not to ruin the story.
"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?" I was curious too. If it was something that destroyed vampires, then why would Stefan want it? I knew the Five had a connection to an ancient witch, one that had been desiccated for thousands of years, and that he was something of a walking calamity if he was ever allowed to wake up. From my visions, I had seen a little of what was going to happen if he ever woke up, and it wasn't good. I also knew another witch was involved with the origin story, but that was still a little fuzzy right now. I'm working on it. "Okay, why don't we just skip with the theatrics and get right to the point?"
"Not quite yet. Because in order to find this weapon, we need to solve the puzzle, which seems to have disappeared."
"What puzzle." Giving Stefan an expectant look, Klaus waited for him to figure out the answer on his own. "The tattoo. What is it?" After a brief hesitation for theatrical effect, Klaus finally revealed that the tattoo was actually a map that would lead us all to the coveted treasure.
"Fat lot of good a tattoo's going to do if we can't see it." Pointing out the obvious, we all then looked to Klaus, figuring that he probably already had a solution to this one, and turns out, he did.
"We can't, but someone else can." Turning in his seat, Klaus then spoke to the girl he'd compelled to be the waitress for the evening. "Why don't you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?" He suggested, allowing the girl to go fetch whoever it was Klaus had stashed away, allowing our host to turn back to us. "You see, the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one other person who could see them." Just at that moment, one of Klaus's hybrids pulled Jeremy Gilbert into view, forcing him to stand and once Stefan caught sight of him, he immediately moved to go free Jeremy but Klaus was faster, blocking Stefan's way with a warning look. "I wouldn't." Setting down my fork slowly, I glanced at Rebekah before continuing to coolly observe the goings on of the room. "Lucky for us, young Jeremy here is a bit of an artist."
"I'm not helping you with anything." Before anyone else could move, the hybrid had whipped off Jeremy's ring and tossed it to Klaus, leaving Jeremy completely defenceless and very susceptible to death by supernatural hands.
"I'm afraid you are." The fire spat with a strong gust as I started to feel bored and irritated with all this ridiculous farce.
"Jeremy." I spoke out, eyeing the fire before I rolled my head back and looked towards him, giving him a steady look. "Why don't you come on over here?" Jeremy looked uncertain, glancing at Klaus who now looked at me very unhappily but I ignored him. "Have something to eat and drink. I'm guessing Klaus here didn't offer you anything when you were no doubt dragged here against your will, so come on. It's okay." The kid seemed to realise that the person he was probably safest with in the room right now was me, and he gingerly started to walk over. At first Klaus looked like he was going to protest, but I dared him to try stop Jeremy, turning my eyes to him as they lit with green fire.
Stefan looked slightly confused, not expecting me to speak up for Jeremey and seemed wary of the fact that I was now openly making a move. Jeremy came over and I gave him my seat, making him sit down and pouring him a drink of bourbon to help calm his nerves. "Just don't tell your sister." I said to him warmly, handing him the drink before I then folded my arms and rested back against the table. "Cut him some slack, Nik. Did you think maybe you could have just asked nicely for his help? I mean, if I'm right about what this is all about then Jeremy would be more than willing to join the club if it meant helping Elena."
"What do you know of this?" Klaus immediately asked me, he and Stefan returning to the table as he eyed me with wary suspicion, just like he did when we were first getting to know each other and figure out where we stood.
"Only what I've seen of the future. Some flashes and images, not a lot, but enough to know that this is all going to boil down to one single person. Elena. It's always about Elena, and her endless heroes and knights in shining armour swarming to her rescue." I didn't even bother hiding the sound of disdain from my voice as I rolled my eyes with a look at Rebekah. "I mean seriously, it's like she's incapable of anything without needing someone to save her from usually self-inflicted mortal danger."
"You don't get to talk about Elena, not when you're the biggest coward that ever existed." Stefan said to me sharply, instantly defending his supposed one true love who turns out, wasn't actually the epic romance of a lifetime he'd been expecting. "Every time we've ever come to you for help, you've backed out."
"Well yeah, because usually you were asking me to kill someone." I pointed out, lifting a hand in a 'what the hell' gesture as Klaus curiously looked between Stefan and I. "And sure, I like being alive and don't particularly want to be bothered by the problems of someone who can't even decide which brother she prefers." That seemed to be a sore spot for Stephan, as he came at me with a flash of his fangs, making me smirk. It's not like he got very far, since he and I were on opposite sides of the table and he had to get past either Rebekah or Klaus first, and that wasn't going to happen. He chose to try and move around Rebekah but she smartly grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pushed him back, forcing him away from me as I couldn't help but stand there very smugly. Looking with anger and frustration at Rebekah, Stefan then looked back at me.
"At least Elena has the decency to care about people other than herself."
"Ouch, is that supposed to hurt? You still haven't figured it out, have you Stefan?" Pressing my hands against the table, the fire crackled with enthusiasm as I suddenly looked at him with a glowering intensity that made him naturally retreat, despite not being physically imposing by any means. "I don't care about your opinion of me, and I never will." Letting the tenseness ease away with a gradual exhale, I then stood up straight. All the while Jeremy had been listening and frowning slightly, so when he spoke I looked down at him.
"You said this can help my sister? How?"
"Well kiddo, you're just going to have to find that out later." Giving him a smile, I assured him that he didn't have to worry about being hurt or killed with me around, so after demanding the ring back from Klaus I returned it to him, and managed to persuade the young Gilbert that drawing what he could see of the tattoo was going to be in everyone's best interest. I knew about the witches and the immortal, though the details were still sketchy, and I wanted to know where that person was buried, so I could bury them further underground and hopefully never have him revived, which meant the weapon I knew he was buried with would have to stay lost too. Too bad for you, Elena. Whatever it was, guess you won't be getting it.
With Jeremy now on board, the hybrid led him away in order to begin sketching the tattoo, leaving the four of us together still whereby Stefan now asked to know more about the tattoo itself. "My sister's suitor was unwilling to tell us anything. Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate. Isn't that right?" Klaus said with a satirical tone as he directed his focus at Rebekah who was standing stiffly against her brother's open mockery.
"Be nice." I told him quietly, pouring myself a drink from the crystal decanter and sipped at the smooth bourbon.
"Aren't I always?"
"You know damn well that's a load of crap, Nik. You're not fooling anyone with that." I told him bluntly, though I couldn't fully hide the smile that so desperately wanted to spread across my face into a grin in response to the taunting look he was giving me. "So what happened next? I'm guessing Rebekah used her charms to get the information out of this Alexander guy."
"Charm and a great deal of flirtation, as well as a tryst or two." Rebekah admitted openly, making me look at her with a quick laugh, impressed.
"Yes well, whilst Rebekah was in the arms of her lover, my sister's boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He and his brothers put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn…and me." That I hadn't seen coming. So they'd known all along that they'd been vampires? How did they even know what kind of daggers and ash to use?
"How was I supposed to know?" Bekah protested as Klaus then lifted his drink to salute her.
"Cheers. To my sister's uncanny ability to choose men." She looked hurt by that last comment, so I made the fire burst again and let some cinders catch on Klaus's hand, making him hiss and shoot me a glare as I just sipped at my drink casually. Stefan then made the comment that the daggers didn't work on Klaus because of his werewolf side, to which Klaus responded with a knowing smirk that they didn't. Guess the original vampire hunters hadn't been privy to that information, and it probably cost them their lives. "Tell him what the hunter told you the tattoo leads to. What's this great weapon that could bring upon the end of the vampire species?"
Sharing a long look with me, I gave a tiny shrug to signify that it was up to her whether or not she told us, as I could see the questioning look in Bekah's eyes until she sighed. "A cure. He said
there was a cure." Now that makes a lot of sense now. If the secret weapon was a cure, then if Elena took it she'd be human again and Klaus would have a means to continue creating his hybrid army. It was all just so…mundanely predictable.
"There is no cure for vampirism." Getting up and striding away, we all followed the brooding brother as Rebekah insisted that she wasn't lying.
"I'm telling the truth, Stefan."
"Then why wouldn't you have searched for it, found it?"
"Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body." Klaus answered, heading over to the liquor table in order to pour himself another drink. "The map was gone, the brotherhood of the five extinct. For nine hundred years, there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town." Keeping quiet for a moment, I wondered if there was a way to get to that cure before anyone else. If the cure was resting with the immortal who was going to bring a lot of danger and misery to Mystic Falls and the world, then I wanted him to stay where he was. For that, I needed the map and also the means to translate it. The sword.
"Well, now we have the map, what do we do next?"
"We don't do anything." Turning around to face his sister, Klaus pointed at her accusingly. "You can't be trusted, little sister. You'll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty." Calling his name with a snap, Klaus then spread his hand wider as he held his drink aloft, speaking as if he was defending himself and his ruthless pursuit against Rebekah. "I mean, it's pathetic really, isn't it? How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You think she would have learned by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception!"
"At least she has a heart to give, Nik, whereas you have nothing but your own wallowing sense of self-pity." I defended Rebekah who looked like she was on the verge of tears, and I naturally felt a spark of anger on my best friend's behalf. "You have no real appreciation for anything, not even your own family and even if you surrounded yourself with thousands of hybrids who were loyal to the death to you, you will still feel that same empty feeling of total loneliness." Sharply glaring daggers at me, I downed my drink then slammed the glass down on the table as I stood toe to toe with him.
"Careful love. I wouldn't push me too far, there's only so much tolerance I can spare for you." Unbelievable. This guy…he was so hot and cold it gave me a headache. Scoffing at him, I shook my head with disgust, looking him up and down before holding his icy stare.
"Typical. The moment someone has a difference of opinion from you, or speaks out against you, or defends anyone other than you, you assume them to be an enemy. Here I thought you were actually starting to turn into a likeable person. Guess I was mistaken." Turning away I started to leave, Rebekah joining me as I reached her.
"If you leave then I will not guarantee the boy's safety!" Klaus yelled after me, full of fury and spite.
"I've already put a rebound spell on him. Anything you or anyone else try to do to him will be paid back twice over. Knock yourself out!" I yelled back without even bothering to turn around. My hand reached out for Bekah's and held it securely, the two of us leaving that mansion and she drove me home, though for a long time there was silence in the car. Neither of us knew what to say, and I had no idea where to start in trying to comfort Rebekah from all the pain she must be feeling right now. I had nothing, so I just sat there until she pulled over in the street and just started crying.
Feeling awkward and unsure, all I could think to do was just hold her hand as she sobbed, releasing all the tormenting emotions that had been bottled in. Not knowing exactly how much time had passed, Rebekah eventually calmed down enough to be able to breathe properly again, drawing in deep breaths as I continued to sit there holding her hand. "You're such a good friend to me, Lia. Thank you, for standing up to my brother for me."
"Your brother can still be a real dick. I got lost in all the smooth charm and the poetry for a while there but I guess that honeymoon period is over." I drawled, still ticked off that Klaus had purposefully berated Rebekah for being the way she was. So what if she fell in love easily? It's not a bad thing. At least she was actually capable of feeling something. "You gonna be okay?"
"Honestly? No."
"Want me to crash round yours tonight?"
"Would you mind?" Giving her a grin, I reasoned that we had a month of catching up to do with movie nights and pizza, so we had better get started. This cheered her up marginally, allowing her to pull herself together enough to be able to focus on driving but before she pulled away, her phone alerted her to a text which she read first. "What is it?" Seeing her face change, Bekah sighed softly.
"Stefan, he wants me to go to his place to talk more about the Five."
"Are you going to go?" She considered it for a while before deciding she might as well, wanting to be done with this business by the end of the night. She drove us over to the Salvatore house but I stayed in the car as she'd asked me to let her handle it, so I did. I camouflaged myself with a spell so that no one would see me, having a sneaking suspicion that Stefan wasn't here just to talk. Seems like my instincts were right on the money, because before I knew it Klaus was walking into the house with a dagger and white oak ash in his hand. That damn son of a bitch.
Getting out the car I dropped the spell and flew into the house just as Rebekah was screaming at Klaus to stab her with the dagger, and the moment he moved to do it I thrust out my hand. He went flying backwards and I slammed Stefan into a wall as well, clearing the way for Rebekah as I cried out her name and reached out my hand. She grabbed on and I covered us both with an invisibility and a silencer spell, wrapping it over the car as well so that we could get away together. I had to drive then, because Rebekah just dove into the back and sobbed herself into unconsciousness, getting us away from Klaus and Stefan.
Damn it. God damn it! Now he'll be after us, which is just going to be a real pain in my ass. I have to think of something, a way to hide Rebekah or at least get her somewhere safe away from her brother before he caught up to us, because there was no way I was going to let him dagger Rebekah again. She didn't deserve it, and he is such an ass for trying to put her back into a box again. Klaus really was one of the crappiest brothers I've ever come across in my life, and I knew all too well that this was only the beginning of a very long game of cat and mouse. Damn.