Disclaimer: Only the plot and any OCs are mine.

A/n: This is a sequel to, and continuation of, the previous story, The Unknown Life.

"There's the house," Elijah remarked as they approached the ranch at his urging. "We've been looking all night. We need to go in, have something to eat, get some rest, and we can keep looking for Eloise after."

"No!" Adrian grabbed his uncle by the shoulders and gave him a shake, something he would never have done unless he was as angry and scared as he was then. "No! Eloise is pregnant! Who knows what's happening to her right now?" He began pacing and growling. "She could be hurt or cold or scared..."

"If you want to keep going, I'll come with you," Kai offered. "That's my daughter out there and I don't want anything bad to happen to her either."

"Thanks," Adrian smiled at his friend. "Thanks a lot."

"Then it's settled," Mikael smiled. He was cold and hungry and tired. "You two can continue on this fools' errand while the rest of us take a break."

Klaus gave him a push. "Well, if you're so eager to take a break, I don't even know why you came, anyway. You've never liked me. Never shown interest in Adrian before. Why are you so eager to help him now? What are you up to?"

"I understand this is hard to believe, but I genuinely want to help!" Mikael said.

"I don't know how much help you can be when the majority of us have some werewolf heritage and you don't!" Klaus snapped. "You might as well go home and be with the girls since there doesn't seem to be a meaningful way for you to contribute to this whole thing!"

"Well now, who knows if the ladies are even there by now?" Lucifer asked. "We told them to stay but knowing what I know about several of them, they aren't going to do it just because we told them to."

"Yes," Mikael rolled his eyes. "We'll probably have to go looking for them too once we find Eloise!"

Kai zapped up some beer and Ricky took one, uncapping it and taking a huge gulp before Elijah could grab it from him and giving a loud burp.

"Excuse me," he said after while Elijah rolled his eyes. "Okay, this is good enough. I can continue now that I've been fortified."

"Anyone else want one?" Kai asked and held up the six pack.

"No, thanks," Adrian shook his head. "I think I need to keep a clear head and you should too."

"Well, of course I am!" Kai replied. "This was just for other people." But, seeing as there weren't any more takers, he zapped the beer away and changed it for water, which was consumed much more quickly.

"And does anyone else need blood?" Adrian asked. "I think there are deer around here. We could feed a bit if we need to."

"Oh, no," Mikael shook his head. "If there's one reason at all to stop at the ranch, even if it's just for a few minutes, it should be to get some decent blood. I'm not feeding from animals if I don't need to. Not when there's perfectly good human blood right over there."

"For once, I agree with him," Klaus said, to everyone's surprise. "We'll be strongest if we have human blood from the house. Let's go."

They continued their march back toward the ranch for food and blood, rehearsing what they would tell wives and girlfriends if they tried to get them to stay...but when they arrived, they found no one. The house was empty.

"You don't think the crazy werewolves got them too?" Ricky asked. "Should we be worried about Grandma and Aunt Kayla and everyone?"

"Yes and no," Elijah sighed. "Damn it!"

"What?" Mikael asked, knowing that only one person who'd still been in the house could make him growl like that. "What's she done now?"

"Selina's made like the pied piper and convinced everyone to go and find the werewolves!" Elijah cried. "I mean, I should have figured she would do something like that, but...I didn't think she would be so heedless!"

"It sounds like 'Heedless' is kind of her middle name," Tyler got out and then looked guiltily at Adrian. "Sorry for talking that way about your mom."

Adrian shrugged and took the note from his father. "Well, it's not like you're wrong," he admitted as he took the note from his uncle to look it over. "She can be."

"And let's not forget that Eleanor and Amy are pregnant," Lucifer got out as if anyone needed reminding. He came to a decision. "Maybe we should split up. Some will look for the ladies and some will look for Eloise. Is that fair?"

"I think we should stay together," Ricky got out, his eyes on Elijah. "I know we don't see eye to eye most of the time, but if we separate, and then something happens to Grandma, you're pretty much all I've got left, aren't you?"

"Yes," Elijah nodded and put a hand on Ricky's back as Tyler, also moved, did the same. "All right, we won't separate. Get some blood and some food if you need it." He looked at the note. "And then we'll go see just what your grandmother is up to."

Not long before...

"Who wants more coffee?" Selina asked. "Or cake? I could get out a card deck or a board game, or..."

"Selina, dear, this is not a slumber party!" Charlotte snapped in a rare rebuke of her friend. "A terrible disaster has happened and our...well, our idiot men are out all alone."

"Awww!" Selina smiled. "Does someone care about Mikael?"

"He's an idiot," Charlotte growled. "If he gets himself killed, I'll have to find someone else and all humans are also idiots, but less tolerable ones." She rolled her eyes.

"Mom, I think that we should at least try and get some sleep," Kayla yawned. "Coffee isn't working on me anymore!"

"I'm not tired, but I think we could do something more constructive than play Go Fish," Roxie got out." She paused. "Why don't we go to Steve and Gwen's house and ask what happend to Eloise? We should have done that hours ago!"

"Don't bother," Charlotte scoffed. "He probably doesn't know. He's probably too busy paying attention to my sister and their daughter to focus on anything else. Or maybe it's something she's doing. Who knows what her powers are."

"I think that's kind of nice," Ellie said. "Besides, we don't really need him. Sure, it would be easier, but we can do things the hard way."

"Maybe that's not a good idea," Amy got out and looked down at her belly. "I...I know that we're not completely helpless, but maybe we should think of our babies. Maybe we shouldn't risk their safety doing something dangerous if we don't need to."

"Someone talking sense at last!" Charlotte proclaimed. "I agree with her. Let's stay here."

Seeing she was outnumbered, Roxie tried a new tactic. "What if we don't have to fight anyone to find Eloise? What if we just...have a chat and get all the answers we need?"

"I like it!" Selina said. "But how do you suggest we do that?"

"Well, why don't we ask the werewolves that are camping out in the woods?" Roxie suggested. "They're close enough that they had to have seen something."

"Oh, no!" Isabella shook her head, thinking of what she and Tyler had been up to in those same woods before the wedding. "No way am I going in there. I want to stay here and not be dirty and gross!"

"I knew you were just using my son!" Amy cried. "If you cared about him at all, you'd come with us!"

Isabella's lip trembled. On the one hand, in her heart of hearts, she was worried about Tyler. But she couldn't admit it to anyone. And maybe volunteering to find him would give it couldn't afford that now. No way!

"Fine, I'll come with you," Isabella grouched. "But it's not because I like him. I want to make it clear right now. It's for...it's for Leila, that's it!" She stood up and stomped to the door while Selina wrote their men a note and then they followed behind her. "And if I get mud on my shoes, may Grandpa help all of you!"

"How are your shoes?" Roxie asked Isabella as they trudged through the woods not long after. "Fine, I hope? I don't want any of us to get struck by lightning or anything."

"Oh, shut up," Isabella hissed.

Amazingly, it was Ellie and Amy who, along with Selina, were leading the group and seemed to have the most energy.

"It's all right," Selina encouraged Kayla, who she was pulling along behind her. "We're almost there. You can make it!"

"No, I can't," Kayla panted. "Too tired...so hungry!"

"Oh, here!" Charlotte snapped and pulled a chocolate bar out of her purse. "Eat that!"

"You...you have a chocolate bar in your purse?" Kayla asked in surprise. "You carry food around for emergencies too?"

"Well, yes," Charlotte nodded. "It seems this body of mine needs constant nourishment, otherwise it makes very irritating noises. But I'm fine now, so just take it!"

"Thank you," Kayla returned meekly and unwrapped the candy bar, taking a bite before putting her hand back in her mothers as they all continued the march to the camp.

"I see something up ahead!" Amy observed at last. "Do you think that's it?"

"I mean, it could be," Ellie said. "There are tents set up and a bunch of people walking around. Let's check it."

"All right, I'll take the lead," Selina decided.

"Good idea, Mom," Roxie said. "You're the most senior werewolf here. They'll respect you."

"Well, I don't know about that, exactly," Selina replied. "But it's what I'm hoping for."

When they reached the werewolf camp, it was immediately made clear that they weren't welcome when a few werewolves pounced on Selina and Roxie while the others fought how they could, with Amy and Ellie using magic from the sidelines and not entering the fray. They kept yelling for help, but no one came.

Finally though, one of the wolves looked over his shoulder, growled at the others, and they dropped the women on the ground, letting them get up at last, although it was obvious they were still spoiling for a fight.

"What's going on?" Roxie asked. "What happened?"

"Move aside, move aside," Ludovic finally appeared as the other werewolves cleared the way for him. "I apologize for all my men, ladies." He bowed. "What brings you here to our humble abode?"

"Oh, stop with all the fancy talk," Selina told him, smoothing her hair, scowling at her bruises, and wiping the dirt off herself. "We're just here because we want to know one thing and one thing only: Did you kidnap my daughter in law?"

Ludovic gave her a look. He recognized her...one of the Lockwoods, maybe? Couldn't quite put his finger on it, but she had a strong personality for sure. "I have no idea," he shrugged. "Maybe if you told me your daughter-in-law's name, I'd be able to help you better."

"How about you tell us where Eloise is before I rip off your head?" Roxie yelled. She really hated being ambushed and made dirty. That hadn't been a fair fight at all!

"Stand down!" Selina ordered, squeezing Roxie's arm.

"Her name is Eloise," She continued, looking Ludovic in the eye and speaking very calmly and firmly, the way Elijah did when she'd done something wrong and wanted to show he was 'disappointed' in her. "Her name is Eloise, she has blonde hair, she got married today..."

"Well, that's very specific," Ludovic got out. "But..I'm afraid I don't know anyone like that."

"Of course you do!" Roxie yelled. "We had the wedding at the house, just over there!" She stabbed a finger in the direction of the ranch. "And since this...home of yours isn't far, you couldn't have missed it!"

"I try to keep out of other people's business," Ludovic told her. "Please lower your voice. Some of my men are trying to sleep."

"I'm sorry," Selina apologized through gritted teeth, even though she didn't want to. "Now are you sure you haven't seen my daughter in law? Are you positive?" She pulled her phone out of her purse and showed him a picture of Eloise in her dress. "That's her."

"N-no," Ludovic got out, not as smoothly this time. "Haven't seen her at all. I'm sorry."

But Selina knew he was lying. "All right," she said. "So you aren't going to tell the truth. Fine then. But she's pregnant, you know. And if any harm comes to her or my grandchild because you wouldn't tell the truth, you'll be hurting worse than she will. You'll wish you were dead." She got in his face and showed her teeth as Roxie smirked behind her shoulder and Charlotte looked on with admiration. "Got it?"

"Yes, I've got it," Ludovic told her.

"All right, we'll go then," Selina said. "But when you decide to tell the truth, you know where we are." She looked at the others. "There's no point in being here any longer," she told them. "Let's go home."

"You're just going to give up right now?" Charlotte complained as they walked back to the house. She'd really been hoping for a fight. "You probably could have beaten it out of him easily! In fact, at one point, you would have! I miss those days."

"I don't," Selina sighed. "I was real screwed up then. Even your son thought it was too much. This is the better way. I promise."

"Fine," Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Eloise's eyes popped open when cold water dripping from a leak in the ceiling fell on her forehead. She sat up and looked around, then blinked a few times to make sure she was awake. The room was very dark and cold and she was sitting on a hard stone floor. She looked around and saw nothing, not even a way out.

"Hello?" She yelled. "Is anyone here? Where am I?"

She then heard cackling in the darkness. Then it stopped. She thought she'd just imagined it. She called for help several more times and nothing. But there was that wicked laughter each time. Maybe she was going crazy.

Then, at last, two oddly placed gas lamps were turned on and the room came into focus. She was in a dungeon, cold, wet, and dirty. Eloise shivered. Then her eyes lit up when she saw who had turned the gas lamps on. It was Helene.

"Here you are!" She yelled. "I need to get out of here. I was kidnapped after my wedding and everyone is probably worried sick about me. I'm very hungry and thirsty. Will you help me?"

"No, I think I'll keep you right here," Helene replied. "A lot of planning would go to waste if I just let you wander out of here."

"What...planning?" Eloise asked. "Did you know about this?" She paused, and then her eyes widened as she murmured, "did you do this to me? You bitch!"

That made Helene chuckle, stride closer, and then come closer, slowly stroking Eloise's cheek. "That's a nice way to talk," she said. "It's certainly not going to motivate me to free you." She smirked. "I mean, not that I was planning on it. Not for a while anyway."

"Why did you do it at all?" Eloise asked. "I've never done anything to you!"

"Simple," Helene shrugged. "Adrian treated me like garbage our entire relationship. Made me miserable. So why should he suddenly get to be happy? Why are you good enough for him when I wasn't?"

"Because you were awful to him!" Eloise yelled. "You made him miserable! You-" She went silent when Helene slapped her so hard the sound echoed off the dungeon walls.

"This has nothing to do with me!" She hissed. "I wasn't horrible. I just wasn't good enough. And neither are you!"

Eloise then felt a kick and tried to subtly move her hand to her belly without Helene noticing. But the witch caught the gesture anyway, a wicked smile curving her lips.

"Oh, yes," she said. "You're pregnant, aren't you? Well, if you're worried about the baby, don't be; a little longer like this, without food or water, you won't have a baby to worry about!"

"Wait a minute!" Eloise cried. "What am I thinking? I don't have to depend on you! I can get food and water myself!" She tried to zap some up, but something was wrong with her magic. Nothing was happening.

"How big of an idiot do you think I am?" Helene got out. "You can't use your magic in here. I made sure of that." Then she laughed that laugh that made Eloise's skin crawl. "I'm going to go now," she said. "I might be back later. Don't miss me too much." Then she shut the door behind her and Eloise shut her eyes tight, picturing Adrian's sweet, kind face and wishing and hoping that he would get her out of here. And soon.

"Just a quick shower," Helene muttered to herself as she ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on before tearing off her clothes. "Just a quick one. I have a prisoner to watch, so I can't be away all day."

Even though she'd planned on a quick shower, it wasn't quick enough. She was still under the spray when Ludovic strolled in, grabbed her clothes and towel, then waited for her to exit, which she did, letting out a loud shriek at the sight of him as she tried to cover her breasts.

"Give me my clothes!" She cried. "And what are you doing in my house?"

"You forgot to lock the door," he said. "You should be careful about that. Anyone could just walk right in."

"Well, now that I know you don't hold back from such things, I'll keep that in mind," Helene snapped. "Clothes?"

"Not until you give me my money," Ludovic said, his eyes roaming over her body. "When are you going to pay us?"

Helene waved her hand and the detachable shower head floated out of the shower and sprayed him hard in the face.

Ludovic was pushed back by the force of the water and knocked out when his head hit the wall. This gave Helene a chance to look him over without him knowing about it and making any smart remarks. Especially with the wet shirt clinging to his lithely muscled body, he wasn't bad looking. It was a shame he was such a jerk.

She leaned down to move a strand of hair out of his eyes just as he opened them, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her down on top of him, causing her loosely tied towel to fall off.

"What do you want with me besides money?" Helene asked. "Doesn't surprise me there's something. You stalked me to find my house. You're probably going to take liberties with my person as well."

"'Take liberties with your person'?" Ludovic repeated and then laughed, before wincing and putting a hand on his head. "Fuck, that really hurts!"

"Well, you were knocked out cold," Helene got out and reached for the towel to cover herself up with. "Maybe you should lay down, and..."

"I heard people who've hit their heads as hard as I did shouldn't be left alone," Ludovic said as he ran a long finger down the skin of her thigh. "Would you care to join me? It's the least you can do after you set a bunch of crazy women on me and then possibly gave me a concussion!"

"I didn't set anyone on you!" Helene cried. "What would make you say that? That would mean I'd have to think about you and I certainly have better things to do with my time!"

"Well, I don't know!" Ludovic cried. "All I know is that a bunch of crazy women descended on the pack looking for Eloise cause they thought we might know something."

"You weren't dumb enough to give anything away, were you?" Helene asked, automatically reaching out to grab his hand in hers.

"No, but if the crazy woman with the big blue eyes comes back and kills me because she found out about about the kidnapping, someone's gonna come after you!" Ludovic told her. "I've already made plans with my men. I'm not going to get hurt for your sake. You're not worth it!"

Helene glared and pulled her hand out of his. "Oh, just go away!" She cried. "You've already kept me here longer than I meant to be."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry, Your Highness," Ludovic told her, inclining his head just slightly as Helene struggled to her feet.

"No, you're not," Helene scowled, then looked down at him as he remained on the floor. "Are you going to sit there or get up?"

He held a hand out. "You're gonna have to help me," he said. "I got whacked on the head. I could fall."

"You seem fine to me," Helen growled. "Now get up. And leave. Although I know it's too much to ask you not to come back since you know where I live."

"Yes," Ludovic nodded. "The threat of me coming back here until you give me the money you owe me should be enough of an incentive for you to get it and get it quick!" Then he got up and turned on his heel deftly walking to the door and making it clear to Helene that he was not as horribly injured as he claimed. "Don't forget."

"If it's a choice between giving you money and seeing your stupid face if I don't, the choice is simple," Helene replied. "I hate your stupid face!"

But, she thought as he gave a nod and then slammed the door behind him, his butt certainly wasn't bad at all.

"What is it?" Remiel demanded when the door to Katherine and Oliver's house was opened for her. "What's harmed you? Are you all right?" Katherine had called her about there being something in the house that was causing them a problem and asking if she would come over immediately to help deal with it.

"Yes, but...we just managed to hold it off," Katherine replied as she and Oliver both looked at one another with wide eyes and began coughing. Remiel smelled worse than ever now, and that was saying something. "It um, well..."

"It went in the bathroom," Oliver said firmly. "This way."

Although it drove her crazy to touch Remiel at all, Katherine reminded herself that what she was doing was for her friend's own good, and she could always shower later if the smell lingered.

They got to the bathroom then Katherine pushed her inside and Oliver locked the door behind them as Katherine turned the shower on and shoved Remiel under the spray. "What?" She coughed. "What are you doing?"

"Undress," Katherine said and pointed the shower head at her after detaching it. "Or you'll get this right in your face."

"You wouldn't," Remiel told her.

"I would," Katherine replied and sprayed her.

"Everything okay in there?" Oliver asked as Remiel began coughing and struggled to remove her heavy, soaked clothes.

"Yes," Katherine assured him. "Just fine." They managed to get Remiel's clothes off and with a roll of her eyes, she stood under the warm water for a little bit, then tried to get out.

"No, no," Katherine shook her head. "You're definitely not done yet. Get back under there."

"No!" Remiel shook her head. "I will not!"

"Fine," Katherine heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I didn't want to have to do this, but..."

Then she called Oliver and both he and Katherine held her down while Katherine did the best she could to get Remiel clean with soap, water, and shampoo.

Remiel didn't take to the process, squirming and thrashing and making both Katherine and Oliver glad they were using the bath with the showerhead to wash her rather than the shower alone. It was a lot safer that way. "Why are you doing this?" She asked as she spat out soap and water that got in her mouth. "I thought you were my friend!"

"I am!" Katherine said and gave her shoulder and collar bone a hard scrub. "But enough is enough! And if you don't want soap and water in your mouth, don't talk while we're washing you. Just be still and that will help us get this over with faster! Besides, you're beautiful. Don't you want people to see that?"

Tight lipped, Remiel shook her head.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Katherine said. "While you are here on Earth among people, you are going to stay clean and take care of yourself, all right?"

They finished one shower and then, to be extra sure Remiel was clean, they dragged her to another bathroom and gave her a bath, using some of Katherine's body wash that smelled like flowers.

Finally, Remiel was clean enough for them. Oliver gave her a towel to put around herself and she put it on, then scowled at her reflection in the mirror. "I can't believe what you've done to me!" She said. "I smell..."

"Pleasant?" Katherine put in.

Remiel made face at her. "No! How am i supposed to fight when I look like this? When I smell like this? It's as if I'm some...kept woman who does nothing!"

"Oh, you're going to do plenty, don't worry," Katherine assured her. "You're going to put on some of my clothes, we're going to do your make-up, and then we're going to go out to a club and have fun. You have to learn how to be around people. I won't argue with you about this!"

Remiel put her hands on her hips. "Well you're going to have to because I refuse to go. I think it's foolish and unreasonable!"

"No, it's not," Katherine shook her head and pointed at the bathroom door. "We're gonna get you dressed now. My room is that way. March!"

"Make me!" Remiel replied.

"After that scrubbing do you want to fight this battle again?" Katherine asked.

"Yes," Remiel nodded and then went to sit on the toilet after putting the lid down. "I do. Let's fight this battle. Unless you'd rathr just surrender right now."

"Not a chance," Katherine replied.

"Good," Remiel grinned. "May the best one win."