Chapter Twenty
La Nouvelle-Orleans
Bay of Cadiz, Kingdom of Spain
1702
Niklaus watched from the rocking deck as the city faded into the horizon. Another home gone, another place tainted by his wretched father. It was growing tiresome.
"I'm so tired of running, Nik." His sister's voice echoed his own thoughts.
"Do you think I am not, Bekah?" he asked as he turned to face her.
She was leaning against a mast with her arms crossed, still wearing a disheveled silver ballgown; they had left in such a rush, no one had time to change. Thankfully, they had learned long ago to keep their most prized possessions at either Auxor or Des Cendres, so nothing too important had been left behind.
"We have the school, but it is so isolated. I want to be part of society again. Culture, parties, music, art, science: civilization," she said as if reading his mind once again.
He frowned. "Where do you suggest we do that?"
"As soon as we land, we should look for an ideal location for a new city. We've been running for as long as we've been immortal. We always find established cities to hide in, but we should build a city of our own where we can walk proudly through the streets."
"I agree, sister," Elijah said, walking up to them from the bow. "It is time to stop living in fear."
"But if he finds us again and destroys it…" Niklaus started.
"Then it is a risk we should be bold enough to take," Elijah said.
"Let's be brave, Nik. Let's do something only for our own happiness," Rebekah added with determination.
A slow smile spread over the middle brother's face. "Always and forever?"
"Always and forever," his siblings said as one.
Below deck, Caroline listened with a smile. She was happy they were going to stop running. A city of their own...yes, it would be nice. She glanced out of the porthole at the churning grey waves.
But what might we be leaving behind?
She had no way to be certain Pacari was alive, but she had a feeling he was. He could have remained in Peru, though after all these years it seemed unlikely. Rebekah still refused to hear his name.
We'll establish a home, and then I'll try to find him.
Versailles, Kingdom of France
1709
It was a little-known secret in the vampire world that beneath the vast palace of the Sun King was the equally elegant and dangerous court of the Shadow King. The bloodbaths and orgies hosted by the Shadow Court more resembled the bacchanals of the Ancient Romans than those of Louis XIV. All local vampires knew whom to pay fealty, and any rogue vampires found wandering the countryside were brought to his court for questioning. On a crisp autumn evening, one of the Shadow King's spies knelt before his throne. The Lady in Black hovered near the King with her customary veil covering her face.
"I have the highest confidence they are in the New World, my liege," the vampire informed them. "My informants are trustworthy."
"Trustworthy informants?" the Shadow King said mockingly, grinning at the Lady in Black. "That's a laugh."
"If your information is solid, it may be of use to us," she told the spy. "But we want you to confirm the rumor yourself."
He gaped at her. "You want me to go to America?"
"Do you have something better to do?" she said slyly.
He glanced at the King and shook his head. As he bowed, the double doors behind him banged open and two of the King's soldiers dragged a man into the court.
"What's this?" the King called out in a delighted tone.
"We found him just two miles away feeding on a carriage of three."
The King clapped his hands together gleefully. "My kind of man! But it is forbidden to feed in these parts without properly introducing yourself and getting a permit, I'm afraid."
The russet-skinned man faced the King without fear in his eyes. "My name is Pacari."
"Whereabouts are you from, Pacari?"
"Peru," Pacari stated.
"What a funny coincidence: we were just discussing America! Our friend here is about to cross the Atlantic. And what brings you to the Old World?"
"I heard there was a vampire coven at Versailles led by one calling himself the Shadow King. I was hoping perhaps you could help me find my wife."
"Lost your wife, have you? Did you ever think maybe she didn't want to be found?" the King tutted laconically.
"I had a run in with a volcano a couple centuries back. We were separated, suffice it to say."
The King peered at the vampire curiously.
"Why do you think I'd be interested in helping you?"
"There is a rumor you are an Original. If it's true, then we are kin. I figure you have some sort of idea of where your sister Rebekah is?" Pacari elaborated, his voice laden with meaning.
The King rose to his feet. "Leave us. Everyone. Except you," he said to the Lady in Black quietly. She sat down in a chair to his right.
He stepped towards Pacari in his heeled shoes, his flamboyant robe trailing behind him.
"What did you just say?"
"My wife is an Original Vampire."
"And please, just one more time for these old ears: who is your wife?" the King asked in astonishment.
"Rebekah Mikaelson."
"When and where was she born?"
"The end of the 10th century, in a small settlement in what is now the Colony of Virginia. She is the only daughter of Esther and Mikael and the youngest child, save for Henrik, who died young. Her surviving brothers are Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, and Kol. Shall I continue?"
The King's eyes widened, and he laughed loudly. "What a first meeting! Welcome to my home, Pacari! I am Kol Mikaelson, your brother-in-law!"
"You're Kol?" Pacari asked in surprise.
"Yes; why? Did Bekah tell you sordid tales about me? They're all true."
"She told me some. I thought you were daggered," Pacari said.
"All in the past, thanks to my friend here." He gestured lazily at the Lady in Black. "When did she turn you?"
"She didn't turn me," Pacari said. "Caroline is my sire."
Kol froze. When he turned back to face Pacari, his fangs were dropped down.
"So, they sent you here, to what? Kill me? I'd like to see you try."
"They don't know I'm here. I haven't seen them since I was human nearly two hundred years ago. I don't know if they even know I am a vampire."
"Caroline d'Ebanne has made it her life's goal to make mine as miserable as possible. What are you, her spy?"
"To be quite honest with you, I don't really care about Caroline. I only met her once and owe her no loyalty or fealty. All I want is to find my wife."
"Lies!" Kol screamed and made to bite into Pacari's neck. A second later, he hollered in pain and fell to the ground, clutching his head.
The Lady in Black rose to her feet. "What did you do to him?"
Pacari grimaced. "I'm shocking his brain; it's not pretty, but it does the trick. Now will you listen to reason, Kol?"
From the floor, Kol stared up at him in wonder. "How were you able to do that? You're a vampire! Only a witch can do that!"
Pacari shrugged. "I'm a hybrid, like my sire."
Kol frowned at him, trying to discern if he was telling the truth. A hybrid, like my sire. "Is that how she was able to wield the dagger?" he muttered. His temper rose as Pacari's words settled in. "Caroline - a hybrid? That bloody bitch! But who could have performed such magic?"
"I do not know the details of Caroline's second transition; I was only told a powerful witch did it," Pacari said impatiently.
After a long beat, Kol let his fangs rescind. He hopped to his feet and wrapped an arm around Pacari's shoulders.
"I can see you have a story to tell, brother. Come, let us have a drink. I can't believe my baby sister finally tied the knot!"
"Has Caroline d'Ebanne made other hybrids?" the Lady asked, walking towards them. "Is she forming an army?"
"Ah, Katerina: patience. I want to get to know my brother-in-law over a nice vintage."
New Orleans, New France
1741
Niklaus growled as he ripped his wife's corset open, sending buttons flying through the garden. They hadn't even made it out of the carriage before he had swept her up and flashed to the lawn behind the mansion.
"When you threatened that pack of werewolves, I wanted to throw you on the table and have my way with you right there, in front them all. They should all know this glorious creature is mine alone!" he hissed into her ear.
"Only ever yours, Niklaus," she murmured.
He bent down to suck and bite her perfect nipples, hardening in the cool fall night. She arched against his knee as he held her up with one arm, utterly wanton in the moonlight, her chest completely exposed.
"Nik," she moaned as her body writhed in ecstasy.
He picked her up again and flashed to the fountain, laying her across the wide ledge. She sprang up to tear his shirt off. He smirked at her then ripped her skirt in two and threw it over his shoulder. She was totally bare before him. He placed his left hand on her flat stomach and dipped his right into the cold water, bringing it back up to trickle droplets onto her pale skin. She trembled from the sensation, but then he lowered his hand and ran his thumb over her nub.
"Nik!"
He pushed further into her, rubbing in circles for several stretched-out minutes before lowering his mouth to the nub. He blew onto it as he stroked. Her eyes watered from the overwhelming sensations.
"God! Fucking! Damn! It!" she writhed on the ledge as her orgasm shattered her.
Without removing his thumb, he tore off his pants, but before he could thrust into her, she lifted her legs, wrapped them around his hips, and heaved forcefully. They splashed into the water. Caroline grinned up at him as he shook his head like a dog.
"Oops," she demurred.
"Caroline, you – Caroline!" he groaned out. She had gone underwater and wrapped her silky lips around his length. He grabbed onto the statue in the middle of the fountain with one hand and the ledge with his other and gasped as she licked, sucked, and hummed around him.
She moved faster, never coming up for air. He was so close; the statue was starting to crumble. She slid her head out of the water coyly to fling her wet mane over her shoulders.
He growled and hoisted her over the ledge with her back to him. He ran a hand over her pert bottom and smacked it, hard.
"Wench," he whispered in her ear before smacking it again. "Do you want more?"
She nodded feverishly.
"Too bad," he taunted before thrusting his pulsating member into her.
He started off slowly, but she kept thrusting back into him and trying to control it. After a few minutes, she turned, or he turned her - it was hard to keep track - and they were pounding against each other in the water, splashing and groaning and gyrating wildly.
"Niklaus!" she screamed as another orgasm rent through her, forcing her inner muscles to clench down on him.
"Caroline!" he grunted out as he spilled into her.
In the morning, Rebekah drily asked if they needed a private residence, while Elijah asked for immediate reparations to his favorite fountain.
Chesapeake Bay, Maryland
1777
Caroline hoisted up another barrel of gunpowder to the sailor waiting with open arms above deck. Sweat was pouring down her face in rivulets, a mark of how hard she was truly working; she couldn't even remember the last time she perspired.
"Ma'am? How many more down there?" the sailor inquired with a look of worry on his face.
Caroline glanced around her. There were over twenty left, and they had already been working since sundown. A quick look at the sky explained the sailor's worrisome look – the sun was beginning to rise once more. She cursed under her breath. Nik was waiting for her cue to come to the port with the wagons. She couldn't give the cue without first ensuring all the barrels were above deck, and she couldn't keep moving barrels in the fierce light of day without the British spotting them.
Ever since the breakout of war, the family had taken a temporary leave of New Orleans and spread throughout the colonies to aid the rebelling colonists in their fight for liberty. As a native Frenchwoman who had once been a friend of Joan of Arc, Caroline had always hated the English. As for the rest of the siblings, they were delighted by any war; it made hunting so much easier. And it was pure, good old-fashioned fun. Caroline and Niklaus were currently helping the Maryland patriots smuggle goods up the coast.
"Jack, I estimate we have about 45 minutes of work left to do in a twenty-minute time slot. Take one of the guards off duty and get him to help us. We have to move."
The sailor quickly got the man, and they worked as fast as possible under the brightening sky. A rooster could be heard in the far distance, though Caroline was sure only her ears were astute enough to have heard it, to her relief. Just as the sun was beginning to glint off the waves, the last barrel was being hoisted up and Caroline let out a low, clear whistle she knew her husband would hear.
Sure enough, as Jack pulled her out from below deck, she could see the wagons making their way down the road, Niklaus astride a black mare in front of the caravan, looking very anxious. She grimaced at him and joined the rest of the men in rolling the barrels off the ship. The first wagon shuddered to a stop and the men began loading it under Niklaus' supervision. Caroline walked over to his side.
"You nearly didn't make it. I almost rode down to check out what was holding you up," he murmured, keeping his eyes on the crew.
"There were more than expected. Which is magnificent in the long run, but made for a very stressful night," she explained lowly, twisting her wedding band on her finger nervously as she glanced around for any sign of trouble.
He looked at her then and smiled softly, running two fingers over her cheek affectionately.
"It'll be fine."
She smiled back at him before returning her gaze to the bay.
"I'm going to return to the ship and prepare it with the captain. Let me know when they are all loaded up."
He nodded before dismounting and turning to the crew. "I need to get all these barrels in these wagons before the first fisherman arrives! What's the problem over here? Why have you stopped? Do you want the British to find us? Do you want to be hanged from the neck?"
Caroline grinned at her husband's antics as she made her way back onto the ship. The captain was probably planning the way back south in the map room with his best navigator. She paused briefly on her way over to splash some water in her face, and as she leaned over the barrel, she could feel a presence – a vampiric one – coming up behind her. She reached behind and slammed the unwelcome newcomer headfirst into the barrel. He was dark-haired and wearing civilian clothes.
"You have two seconds to explain yourself before I stake you with this barrel," she hissed in his ear, keeping his head down.
With a swift movement, he thrust his head out of the water, turned around, and grabbed her wrists. He watched silently as her face contorted with bewildered fury. They were so close that water dripped down his face and fell onto hers; both of them with protruded veins and fangs.
"Kol," she hissed. "How did you get that dagger out?"
He smirked at her. "It turns out enemies of my family are friends of mine."
"Who does that mean? We have a lot of enemies."
"For good reason," he taunted.
"What do you want, to kill me? Good luck trying," she said with a sneer.
"Ah, yes. Before you daggered me, you told me you were a so-called 'Carolinian vampire.' I didn't really know what to think that meant besides the fact that you were about to stab me with one of Nik's daggers, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it meant you were a hybrid! You! A witch, and a vampire! You knew how much I wanted to be a witch again, Caroline! Was this your ultimate betrayal?" His eyes were apoplectic with rage.
"You think I risked my immortality and nearly lost everything I'd built in the centuries since turning into a vampire to get back at you? You're pathetic. I did it for love. I knew Niklaus would never be able to rest knowing I was not as indestructible as him. Our marriage would have continued to be increasingly strained with us so unequal. Being able to dagger you was an added bonus; an afterthought," she snarled.
He let go of her and took a step back. "I told you before you stabbed me that I was sorry."
"Are you?" she challenged.
"I meant it. But then you stabbed me and left me to rot for one hundred and sixteen years. I slept through the Tudors, Cromwell and the Restoration, Copernicus, Martin Luther, the conquistadors! I woke up the year Shakespeare died, Caroline."
"That was the point, Kol."
"And you're still not satisfied? You still don't feel as if justice has been served?"
She pulled the sleeve of her dress up and thrust her forearm at him. An inscription in black ink had been branded onto her pale skin; it featured birds flying out of two words, winding up her arm. He presumed there were 39 little birds altogether, for 39 dead children.
Des Cendres
"I'm not done with you, brother," she promised him with a steely glare.
He bowed. "Then we'll consider the game back on. But I'll warn you, I'm stealing a page out of your husband's book; I'm going to wait. I want you to live in fear, knowing I'm out there, ready to destroy you."
"And how would you do that? With a stake? With vervain? Those things don't work on me," she taunted.
"Come now, Caroline! You know better than I that death is only one way to destroy someone," he finished quietly.
They both snapped their heads to attention; someone was approaching.
"Perhaps Niklaus is coming - do you want to stay and catch up?" she asked.
Kol jumped up on the ledge. "I only ever wanted to see you, my darling. Until next time!" He sent her a mocking salute before dropping into the water.
The captain rounded the corner. "Everything alright, Mrs. Mikaelson?"
"Everything is fine, Captain," she said coolly.
He nodded hesitantly and continued down the deck.
Kol thinks he can one-up me? She still had the ultimate weapon at her disposal; the proverbial nail in his coffin. She couldn't wait to show him.
New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana
1791
Kol was not nearly as patient as he'd boasted to Caroline. It was less than fifteen years before he decided it was time to make his play. He had spent most of the war in Philadelphia with Pacari and Katerina, but they had traveled freely once it was over, acquainting themselves with the newly created country. His companions had decided to join him in New Orleans when he told them he was coming here - both for very different reasons. Pacari, of course, was dead-set on reuniting with Rebekah, which worked to Kol's advantage. Katerina had become his closest companion ever, with only Caroline rivaling her. The trio had all grown fond of each other, in their own way.
He stood outside his family's mansion for hours, waiting and watching. Pacari had reversed the powerful protection spells on the building when they first arrived so he could enter whenever he was ready. He knew his siblings were home and he wanted to scope out the place before making his presence known. One by one, they left for the evening. Caroline, his great enemy, was first, on the arm of his brother Nik. They were quickly whisked away in a carriage, probably off to the theatre. Elijah was next, strolling into the sunset with a cane twirling in his hand; he could be such a dandy. When Rebekah exited with a young man at her side, it was quite hard for Kol to remain hidden. He badly wanted to talk to her, but he had to be patient. He had been patient for over a hundred and fifty years; what was one more night? The house was quiet then. A few heartbeats murmured: servants, of course. He could avoid them easily enough as he poked around. Breathing in deeply, he approached the mansion. There was a little alleyway along the side that he quickly strode down. He shimmied a side door lightly before using a bit of force to open it. His eyes swept around as he stepped inside easily; no one was around. He could hear footsteps in the cellar and up a few flights, but none on this floor. He smiled widely and began inspecting. He was currently in a conservatory that had Bekah's touch all over it. There were even herbs their mother had grown on their property up in what was now the Colony of Virginia, of the United States of America. He inhaled deeply before moving into the next room, a simple, but elegant morning room. In what Kol could only imagine was an ironic move, someone (few guesses as to who) had hung up a portrait of Katerina Petrova. She stared down at the table haughtily. Kol chuckled lowly; he wondered what she would say when he told her about it. He moved into the music room next. He could smell Caroline in here. There was a pianoforte, a Stradivarius violin and cello, and a very curious pair of drums sat near the window. He realized with a pang Caroline had taken them with her when they fled the Congo all those years ago. He turned from the room then, making quick work of the dining room, study, and parlor before making his way upstairs.
The first room was a grand library, probably filled with some very impressive first editions and ancient spellbooks. Luckily, he still had most of Esther's grimoires. He opened a door opposite the library tentatively. The light and airy room was clearly a woman's, but it lacked Bekah's pretensions and he assumed Caroline shared a chamber with her husband. It didn't smell strongly of either of them. A small painting near a window caught his eye and he was across the room in a second. It was a beautiful Japanese ink wash featuring the limb of a tree, a cherry blossom, and, inspecting closely, a beetle. It looked old. He gazed around the room with fresh eyes and realized the entire room belonged in Japan…and it felt like he should be remembering something. There was even a celadon vase on the nightstand that looked vaguely familiar. Kol suddenly felt like he had seen something he shouldn't have.
He backed out of the room and snapped the door shut firmly. Maybe it would be for the best if he just knocked on the door tomorrow morning to deliver the blow. What did you think you'd find, anyway?
"Kol, can you stop fucking around? I'm done waiting, I want to see my wife."
Kol turned to face a scowling Pacari.
"I told you to go back to the inn. Where is Katerina? Don't tell me she's come with you here," Kol scolded.
Pacari took a step forward. "She's not stupid; she's still at the inn. But I know you haven't told us everything. Why are you being so secretive?"
"Pacari, my old friend, these things take time. We wouldn't want to catch Rebekah off-guard," Kol placated his friend.
"You're mad at your sister, Kol; don't pretend you care about her feelings."
Kol opened his mouth to respond, but just then, the front door slammed open downstairs and two vampires whooshed into the mansion.
"Whoever you are, know we're faster and stronger than you!" Nik bellowed. "And when I catch you, you'll regret the day you were born."
Kol and Pacari listened as a third vampire flashed in.
"Riko told me her wards were set off; she's on the way to get Bekah now."
This was certainly not in the plans, but Kol never minded a little chaos.
"Hello, brothers!" he yelled into the hallway. "Hello, Caroline!"
Pacari glared at him.
A second later, Niklaus, Elijah, and Caroline were surrounding them.
"Kol," Niklaus snarled.
"What are you doing, brother?" Elijah said warily.
Caroline, however, was more distracted by the man next to her foe.
"Oh my god… Pacari," she whispered with tears in her eyes.
She started to approach him, but Nik caught her arm, stopping her. He dropped his fangs and growled at the strange vampire.
"Stop, Nik. This is Pacari," Caroline said in a strangled voice.
Elijah frowned. "Pacari? As in, Rebekah's husband?"
"Hello, Caroline," Pacari said grimly.
She looked devastatingly guilty. "I am so sorry, Pacari."
"What do you have to be sorry for?" Niklaus asked.
Caroline grimaced, but took a step towards her progeny. "I cannot even begin to tell you how sorry I am. I went looking for you when the volcano erupted, but I was buried in lava. I barely survived; I thought there was no way you could, even if you had taken my blood."
"Your blood?" her husband echoed.
"Shush, Nik. Caroline is meeting her original progeny for the very first time. It's touching; don't ruin the moment," Kol said with a smirk.
"Caroline?" Elijah questioned.
Caroline braced herself. "He's right; I changed Pacari in Peru over two hundred years ago."
Niklaus dropped his wife's arm and took a step back. Elijah held a hand to his forehead and groaned.
"What have you done, Caroline?" he muttered reproachfully.
She ignored him. "I thought I felt your aura when you awakened, but I was on the other side of the world and there was no way to be certain. I tried to tell Bekah. She was so heartbroken, so upset. She wouldn't let me even say your name. I told myself I'd give her more time, try to find you on my own in a few years, once the family was established here. I let time get away from me... I'm so sorry."
Kol clapped his hands loudly. "What a pretty apology, Caroline!"
Niklaus was looking at his wife like she was a stranger. Elijah was clearly horrified. Pacari stepped towards his sire.
"Thank you for that, Caroline. It explains a lot. I'm sure we have a lot to catch up on, but right now, I would like to see my wife," he said with fire in his dark eyes.
"I'm right here," a choked voice said from behind him.
She was standing on the top step of the grand staircase wearing a dramatic evening gown, all folds and pleats and shades of emerald. The velvet train billowed halfway down the staircase. If Niklaus looked like he was facing a stranger, Rebekah looked like she was staring at a ghost.
"Pacari?" she whispered.
"Rebekah," the Incan hybrid said, his voice caressing her name.
The Original Vampire's eyes flashed from her former husband to Kol and finally settled on Caroline. Her face hardened into a wrathful mask.
"How could you, Caroline?" she spat at her best friend before flashing down the staircase and out of the mansion.
"She won't get far in that," Kol said wisely.
Pacari gave him a disgruntled look before chasing after his wife.
This left Elijah, Niklaus, Caroline, and Kol in the hallway.
"I told you there is a better way than death to destroy someone," Kol said smugly.
Caroline slapped him across the face. "This is Rebekah, Kol! Your sister! How could you do such a thing to her?"
"I do? How could you not tell her you changed her husband for two hundred years?" he hissed back.
Caroline cheeks colored with shame as she twisted her hands into the skirt of her dress anxiously, her eyes frozen on the spot where Rebekah had disappeared.
"All I'm guilty of is reuniting the two lovers and righting your wrong," Kol taunted her.
"That's enough, Kol," Elijah snapped. "We should all go into the drawing room, set aside our differences, and talk this through."
"Ah, brother, always the moderator," said Kol. "Caroline, do you want to stroke your pretty tattoo? Will that make you feel better?"
Caroline's silvery-black veins twisted her face as she lunged at him. Elijah tried to hold her back, but she was too strong. The enemies rolled onto the floor, kicking, biting, and scratching each other.
Niklaus did not move. He was reeling from the rapid turn of events; all he could do was watch as his wife gained the upper hand on his brother and drove her bare hand into his chest, squeezing his heart. Kol roared in pain.
"You're guilty of a hell of a lot more than that!" she cried. Kol sliced his fingernails into her forearm; she shrieked in pain but maintained her grasp on his heart.
"Oh, get over it, Caroline! Does the punishment even fit the crime at this point?!"
Elijah bent down to try to rip the pair apart, but Caroline shoved him away.
"Enough!" a new voice declared from a few paces away. An invisible force tore the vampire and hybrid apart, slamming them into either side of the hallway.
Caroline watched with grim satisfaction as Kol turned his head to see the newcomer and all the blood drained from his face.
"No. no, no, no. You're not real. There's no possible, possible way – you're a ghost, no an apparition, a spell! What are you doing to me, Caroline?" he screamed, closing his eyes and shaking uncontrollably.
Caroline smirked victoriously; even though she could not move, she had never felt more powerful.
"Did you think I didn't know there are better ways to destroy someone? Now the punishment fits the crime."
The witch slowly walked down the hallway until she was a hair's breadth from her old lover.
"Hello, Kol," she whispered.
Kol shook his head desperately in disbelief but could not help himself from opening his eyes. Telltale amethyst eyes were staring at him in pity.
"Mariko," the broken man said.
Kol was wrong; Rebekah had been able to move fast in her cumbersome dress. However, she had left strips of torn fabric in her wake, so Pacari was able to find her anyway. She had climbed into a small fishing boat on the bayou, staring at the lapping waves with her arms wrapped around her knees. He paused for a moment, watching her. The moon was a silvery crescent that night, reflected perfectly in the black water.
"May I join you?" he asked.
She shrugged. He slid into the boat and sat down opposite her, breathing in her scent.
"I've been looking for you for a long time," he started. She gave no response.
He tried again. "An earthquake cracked the hardened lava open and I dug myself out, ravenous for blood. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a group of Spaniards immediately and thus I was a vampire. Well, hybrid," he corrected himself.
At this, she bristled. "A hybrid," she hissed out. "Was it you or her who went behind my back and decided her blood would be better? Actually, you know what: it doesn't matter. Here I am, your grandsire."
He leaned forward. "Caroline was no longer connected to your sireline when-"
"She'll always be my progeny! No matter what some witch did to her, we will always be connected! I cannot believe she did this to me - has our bond of sisterhood and friendship meant nothing to her?" she snarled furiously, her hands shaking.
He placed his brown hands on her white ones gently. They both jumped at having touched for the first time in centuries. Rebekah stared down at their interlocked skin in wonder and melancholy.
"I had to shut out my memories of you," she said in a dull voice. "I couldn't bear being in so much pain. And now you're here and," she cut off with a sob.
He placed a hand on her cheek. "And?" he asked hopefully.
"All I feel is betrayal. You betrayed me, Pacari. I cannot do this; you need to leave New Orleans."
He snapped his hand back as if she had slapped it. "You cannot mean that, Rebekah."
She glared at him with darkened veins. "Do not presume to know me. Not anymore. Our vows were broken with your death. Until death do us part, remember? You have no obligation to me."
Tears slid down his face. "I love you, my one. I will always be your husband."
She closed her eyes and dropped her head into her knees.
"Please, Pacari. Just leave."
"You look just the same, my old friend," the witch teased as she smoothed her skirt down.
Kol said nothing.
Mariko sighed and turned her gaze towards the window. They were in the library; Mariko had insisted she be left alone with him. "I suppose that's not an interesting or clever observation. I'm not as pretty with my words as Elijah or as blunt as Gita. I know you're wondering many things right now, but let's start with the easiest: in 1465 I made myself immortal. I am not a vampire; I am not undead. I won't go into particulars, but I am quite hard to kill. Some have called me The Undying Witch, but I prefer the epithet I created: Riko d'Ebanne."
Kol frowned. "That's Caroline's surname."
"Yes. No one has been more instrumental in my life than Caroline. I honored her by taking her name when I shed off my old self."
Kol rose to his feet slowly. "Caroline d'Ebanne murdered you in 1457 and gloated about it to my face when she caught up with me forty-three years later. She then stuck a dagger in my heart so I would miss some of the best years of Western civilization. Mariko, I loved you! Did that mean nothing to you?"
"Who did wake you, by the way?" the witch asked, but he had reached his limit for careful conversation.
"A more loyal friend than you, I dare say. What actually happened in 1457?" he demanded, knowing her answer would change everything.
There was a pregnant pause before Mariko bowed her head. She had the grace to look a little ashamed. "I faked my death with a potion I made."
"Were you listening to me talk to you at your deathbed?" he prodded angrily.
She shook her head in distress. "I was asleep until Caroline returned with Gita and gave me the antidote."
"Gita has reason to hate me as much as Caroline does. But… Why did you agree to such deceit? How could you hurt me after all we shared, Iki?"
Mariko pressed her lips together and he was seconds away from shaking her when she spoke again.
"I know you are angry Kol, and you have a right to be, but after you left, Caroline came and it was like, life as I knew it didn't just tilt - it flipped upside down. With you, I was a timid girl still coming into my own, only just beginning to rebel against my oppressive parents and realize my full potential. But a lot of my motivation came from my infatuation with you. Caroline helped me grow into the woman I am today. I made my own choices and asserted my powers. I started basing my decisions on impressing myself."
"But was it your idea to fake your death?"
Mariko bit her lip. "Caroline asked me to do it."
He hissed. A terrible thought occurred to him then. "Oh, god. Mikael was never in Japan, was he?"
The witch shook her head and waited for him to explode.
"She planted false information to get me away from you. She knew she could only come between us if I was gone so she could start telling stories."
"Telling stories? You mean about the Paris Massacre?" she threw at him.
A dark shadow passed over his face. "Don't talk to me about that; you were not there. That is not your business."
"Not my business? My life changed irreversibly because of that attack! You came to Japan to avoid your siblings and Caroline! She befriended me to take revenge on you! Gita showed me her memory of that night, and I knew right there and then that you were not the man I thought you were. I idolized you, Kol."
"I do not owe you an apology for my actions in Paris, Mariko. You admit Caroline used you! How can you still be friends with her, how – Oh, god. You were the one who created her strain," he realized in horror.
"Of course, it was me; who else could have killed a vampire only to bring them back as their own progenitor? No witch I've ever met. It's called the Carolinian Strain, but it is my strain," she told him proudly.
"She's a hybrid because of me. I was the one guiding you towards immortality!" he protested. "I was the one who always longed for my magic!"
"You were using me. You wanted me to reawaken your witch powers. I can tell you now, there's nothing anyone can do to undo Esther's spell. My ritual only worked on Caroline because she was not an Original," Mariko said in a firm tone.
Kol cradled her cheeks in his hands. "I loved you, Iki! I was in love with you."
"You were in love with the idea of me. We had a sweet romance, but I realized quickly afterwards it was never meant to be anything more," she said dispassionately.
"Caroline was manipulating you. What we had was special. Don't you remember it?" he tried.
The witch looked at him like he was a pitiful creature. Maybe he was. He fell back in his chair and stared at her.
"This was her final revenge, always. She wanted me to think you dead, so when I found out what really occurred, it would hurt all the more. She knew I wouldn't discover the truth until centuries later. And I thought I was in it for the long con," he shook his head in dismay. "She's rewritten the book on vengeance."
"Caroline is no stranger to suffering," Mariko defended.
"Which means she knows how to make others suffer perfectly. My god, this pain is glorious," he sighed, bending over his knees to face the floor.
She rose to her feet. "I do not celebrate your suffering, but I am not sorry. I do not carry regrets."
"I can see that. Tell me, was it hearing the horrible things I did in Paris that made you fake your death? Or was there another reason?" he asked without looking up.
"Did you decide to court me because you thought I could unlock your magic?" she shot back.
He scowled into the hardwood.
Mariko walked towards the door. She paused before opening it. "No. It wasn't only because of Gita's memories. I was in love with Caroline. In a way, I probably always will be. It seems we have that in common, Kol," she finished softly.
His insides twisted in agony as she left the room.
While Mariko and Kol spoke in the library, Elijah insisted Caroline and Niklaus join him downstairs to grant the pair some privacy. Caroline sat at the kitchen table, gazing blankly at the brick wall, while Niklaus and Elijah tried to get her to explain.
"But if you had just told Rebekah you had given Pacari your blood," Elijah was saying, "much of this turmoil could have been avoided."
Nik sat across from his wife and held her cold hand in his. "Caroline," he started in a pained voice. "Why would you keep this from me all these years?"
She shook her head. "I couldn't be sure he'd turned. I didn't want to give her false hope. And I feared the consequences," she finally said in a deadened tone.
At that moment, Rebekah flashed into the house, slamming every door she went past. Caroline rose to her feet.
"Rebekah!" she cried, flashing upstairs.
Elijah and Niklaus exchanged a glance while the two women screamed at each other.
"I would have understood if she had come to me with this, Elijah," Niklaus admitted to his older brother. "But how can I even defend her?"
Elijah poured his brother a drink and sighed. "Perhaps that's not the point."
"What is?"
"Forgiveness, brother."
A few minutes passed. They heard Rebekah storm out of the house again. Caroline followed her outside, but then she ran in a different direction. Eventually, Mariko's quiet footsteps entered the kitchen.
"How is he?" Elijah asked.
She shook her head. "He's going to need some time."
Elijah sighed. "I'll track down Bekah."
He flashed out of the house. Mariko sat beside Klaus.
"Why do I feel so empty?" she asked him after a pause.
He smiled without humor. "Welcome to the art of revenge, Mariko."
An hour later found Niklaus in his study, drinking a goblet of wine, and staring into the fire with the evening's events on continuous replay in his mind. How could Caroline keep Pacari a secret all this time? What else is she hiding from me?
The door banged open violently to reveal his younger brother, momentarily distracting him from his morbid thoughts. He watched as Kol stalked across the room, pulled a blade out of his belt, unsheathed it, and placed one of the Five daggers on the table. He stared at his older brother defiantly.
"When Caroline stabbed me with this, I figured I'd be down for a couple years before one of my siblings took pity on me and pulled it out. Imagine my surprise when the first face I saw when I awoke was a stranger's."
Klaus raised a single indolent eyebrow with a smirk. "And who was your savior?"
Kol smirked back. "Katerina Petrova."
Klaus rolled his eyes upward. "Funnily enough, during my centuries-long search for my greatest enemy, I never thought to check between your bedsheets."
"Why? My greatest enemy warms your bed every night."
Klaus did not respond. His smirk slid off his face as he gazed into the fireplace moodily.
"Ah, it burns, doesn't it? Why would your precious Caroline hide so much from you?" Kol taunted. "I consider myself lucky in that regard – Katerina has proven to be the most loyal companion I've ever had."
"Well, that might have something to do with the fact that you're one of the only people on earth who could protect her from me."
Kol shrugged. "There are no secrets between us," he said pointedly.
The lines around Klaus' eyes tightened. "Why are you here, Kol?"
"I want you to stab me with this dagger."
Klaus placed his goblet of wine down very slowly and clasped his hands together as he regarded his younger brother. "Now you want to be sent back into a coma? I thought you were upset about missing so much time."
"That was before, when I thought there was something about this bloody world worth missing. Today has proven to me that the world can be too cruel even for the likes of me – and I know a thing or two about cruelty," said Kol, sliding the dagger towards his brother.
"My terms are easy," he continued, but Klaus cut him off.
"Why don't you take the night, romp around our magnificent city, hunt, fuck, let loose. I guarantee you'll have forgotten all about Riko d'Ebanne by dawn."
"See, there's the difference between you and your wife - Caroline never underestimated my love for Mariko. She always knew I loved her, even while manipulating Mariko into thinking I didn't."
"Caroline did what she had to for vengeance," Klaus defended. "I won't do it, Kol. We have a chance to be a whole family again. The times we lived together, when we were in Catalonia, Paris, Java, Constantinople – those were our best years. Living as a family-"
"Nik, do you hear yourself? We can never go back to the way things were before! There's been too much damage," Kol shook his head in disbelief. "And I can promise you, it will be a long time before Rebekah forgives Caroline."
"But now that you've both played your part in this game, we can move past all that," Klaus protested, desperately trying to hold onto this hope. Deep down he knew it was folly, but he needed to normalize things – if only in his own head. If they could all return to the way things were before Caroline and Kol's feud, then perhaps his marriage would also realign.
"It's not a bloody game anymore! This is my life, Nik!" Kol roared.
Klaus said nothing. Kol paced in front of the fireplace, running his hands through his unruly hair in frustration.
"Do you have even the faintest clue what it was like for me to live with the two of you and pretend I was fine? I don't know which was worse - Paris, when I killed 39 little girls, or Constantinople, when I had to witness-"
The hybrid leaned forward in his seat, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Witness what, Kol?"
"Caroline never told you," Kol said dully. "That makes sense – I wondered why you never tried to disembowel me."
"What are you talking about?"
"I thought you'd turned a blind eye to it, but no – I guess love truly does blind us."
"Kol-"
"Oh, bloody hell, Nik. I have loved Caroline since the moment I met her."
A horrible silence swelled up between the brothers. Klaus shot to his feet and glared at Kol with an ugly look on his face.
"I thought you said no more games," he said softly after a long moment.
"This isn't a game," Kol shot back calmy. "I knew she would always pick you, though. The two of you are…. what's the word? Ah, yes. Epic."
"Kol," Klaus warned, his fangs descending.
Kol smiled widely at his brother with a manic gleam in his eyes, intensified by the crackling flames behind him.
"For three decades I had Caroline all to myself. She and I all alone in Cairo, then deep in the jungle… I know you never truly believed there was nothing between us. You've always been smarter than everyone else."
Klaus whirled around, grabbed the wine goblet, and threw it into the fire; the flames erupted furiously as the crystal shattered.
"That's a foul lie, Kol! She was still in love with Saladin!" he screamed into Kol's face.
"And you think I didn't warm her bed as comfort?" Kol asked calmly.
"Lies! Caroline would not keep that from me! Stop trying to rile me up!" Klaus slammed his fist into the wall, making all the paintings in the study crash to the floor.
"Is it working?" Kol taunted. "Did you really think I'd go to England for nine years and kill a bunch of old priests because my best friend asked me to?"
"FUCK, KOL!"
"No, no, I promise I'm just teasing. We were never in love; we never even made love. Fucking though? That's a different story. I'm sure it meant nothing to her, Nik."
Klaus flashed to the dagger and picked it up.
"Oh, no, I'm kidding! Friends, only ever friends," Kol winked.
Niklaus was gripping the dagger so tightly, he thought he might snap it in half. His brother continued.
"She knew I loved Mariko because she knows what it's like to be loved by me. As much as I hate your wife, I can't help loving her. Isn't that fucked up, Nik?"
"And has she ever loved you back?" Klaus snarled.
Kol sighed dramatically. "I have no idea."
Klaus' arm shot up so suddenly, Kol nearly missed the movement. His brother's fingers wrapped around his throat in a vicelike grip as red veins spiderwebbed across his face. "This seems an awful lot like a game to me, brother."
"Go on, Nik. Just stab that nice shiny dagger into my heart. I deserve it," Kol wheezed. "I'm the man who's lusted after his brother's wife for centuries. Isn't life easier when I'm not around?"
A long silence stretched out as the brothers glared at each other. Finally, Klaus removed his hand from Kol's throat and punched him in the jaw. Kol fell into the wall with a bang as Klaus stumbled towards the fireplace and leaned his forearm on the mantel, the dagger still clutched in his grip.
"I'm not in the mood to give you something you want, Kol. Get out of my house," he muttered tiredly.
Kol leaned against the wall, wiping the blood off his jaw. "Caroline showed me how I will die."
Klaus froze. "What?"
"Didn't you know she used her special power at the Battle of Auxor? I was on the battlefield when she gave all the soldiers a vision of their death. I've never been the same since," Kol confessed, his eyes remembering.
Niklaus shook his head slowly. "Why are you telling me this?" he whispered into the flames.
"Caroline always has and always will hold my destiny. I've finally accepted that. She'll always have the upper hand. I'm tired of fighting her, Nik. She's proven I'll never win," Kol said. "I need to rest."
"Were you really together in Africa?"
"Ah, Nik. Does it matter? She's only ever chosen you," Kol shrugged.
The elder brother turned away from the fire. "That's not true. I told her I wanted her to be my last love, and she left Spain, traveled the world, fell in love with Saladin, and spent nearly seventy years mourning him. And running around with you."
Kol waved his hand dismissively. "Saladin was her first real love affair; she was young. You can't be angry if you tell a girl you'll wait for her, and then she goes off and lives her life. It doesn't work like that."
"You haven't answered my question, Kol."
Kol smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Maybe I was lying when I said no more games. If I told you every dirty secret Caroline and I have, I'd ruin my final revenge: letting the unknown fester between you two like a sick disease. Don't forget you were the one who gave her this dagger. You and Bekah and Elijah let me rot for over a hundred years."
"So, whom do you feel more betrayed by: Mariko or Caroline? Or your siblings?" hissed Klaus.
Kol shook his head in defeat. "None of you, all of you - doesn't matter. I've given up on the world, Nik. Perhaps when I wake up, I'll have forgotten both Mariko and Caroline, the two witches of my heart."
Klaus raised his arm to stare at the tip of the dagger. His siblings would not be pleased with him.
"I've written notes to Bekah and Elijah," Kol said, as if reading his mind as he waved around two envelopes and placed them on the table.
Klaus tapped the dagger against his thigh in irritation. "What are your terms?" he asked curtly.
"Ah! You'll do it, then?"
"What are your terms," he repeated stonily.
"Fine. I want to sleep for three hundred years exactly. The only circumstances in which it will be acceptable to wake me before then are as follows: the family is in the gravest of danger - not our average, day-in-the-life Mikael chasing us crap, but end-of-life-as-we-know-it type of danger; which leads me to the second and last exception: the apocalypse. I can't sleep through that."
Niklaus walked towards his brother and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure?" he asked quietly.
Kol laid his hand on Niklaus' opposite shoulder. "I can't even begin to describe the pain, Nik."
Klaus hesitated. "I could kill you for everything you've said tonight, but I can't help feeling sorry for you."
"That's exactly why you just have to do it, brother."
His face was calm; he kept his dark eyes open as the familiar blade cut into him.
"Pacari!"
The hybrid halted but did not turn.
"What, Katerina? Make it quick; I'm leaving New Orleans," he said curtly.
She frowned at him. The stables of the inn they were staying at were not where she thought she'd see him next.
"What's going on? Kol's plan," she started.
"Kol's plan failed. It was never meant to work, anyway. He was playing me so he could get into that house. I'm leaving the city; I suggest you go back on the run now you do not have your protector."
"Was Rebekah not there?"
"Oh, she was there," he bit out bitterly. "She only wants nothing to do with me. My entire life has been a waste."
"And your sire? Klaus's wife?"
Pacari lifted himself onto the first well-fed horse he spotted.
"She's in for a rough couple of decades, I'd wager. Fare thee well, Katerina."
Caroline didn't return home until dawn. He had already boxed Kol up, stored him in the cellar, and given his siblings their letters. Elijah had demanded to see the body before flashing out of the house, probably to drink himself stupid. Rebekah had locked herself in her room.
His wife stepped into the study cautiously, her eyes roving over the mess he had failed to clean up. He could smell her night's trajectory; the mixed odors of blood, alcohol, and opium all wafted from her skin and clothes. "What happened in here? Where's Kol?"
"Kol and I had a little heart-to-heart," he answered vaguely from his chair, watching her face for any reactions. "But congratulations! He admitted defeat. You've won, Caroline. He asked me to re-dagger him. He's tucked away safely in a casket in the cellar."
Caroline's blue eyes went wide with shock. "He asked you – what? Why?"
"Why, Caroline? Really?" his voice rose in anger, but he forced himself to remain seated.
She ran her fingers through her hair, which had unraveled from its fashionable updo she had worn hours ago, when life was different, and his wife was someone he could trust. It was now an unfurled tangle of Medusa-esque locks. "I never meant for this feud to involve so many people around us."
He nodded at her, unable to say anything. She was impossibly beautiful in the early morning light, the flames of the fire casting shadow across her pale face. And never before had she seemed so removed and distant. Untouchable. Unknowable.
"What did he say to you?" she questioned suspiciously.
He stared at her. "Nothing of consequence."
She looked like she wanted to disagree but refrained. Instead, she strode over to the window and watched the city come to life. Her normally pale breast was flushed from the excitement of the long night. "I think it will be best if I leave New Orleans for a time," she said. "Rebekah is rightfully furious with me. My vendetta with Kol is finished. And my country is at civil war; I should go home, make sure none of my subjects are harmed." He could tell she had forced her voice to remain as steady as possible. The careful veneer she wore was so close to breaking – but he did not want to get close enough to break it. He was scared of the truths he would unearth.
Again, he nodded, his teeth clenched together so hard it was a wonder they didn't crack. The unspoken words between them were building a tension so thick, they were both having trouble concentrating on the words they were actual saying.
"Will you join me? I - I'd understand if you wanted to stay here," she said sadly.
He remained silent. She waited a moment, then started to leave.
"Caroline?" he asked with a tremor in his voice.
She turned around to give him a slightly wild, searching look – it wasn't like she was searching for him; it was like she was searching for herself in him. It cut through him. He swallowed and broke eye contact.
"I'll go with you to France," he said hollowly, his gaze returning to the flames.
She nodded. She hesitated for another moment before exiting. The door shut behind her in a way that felt incredibly…final.
A/N: Also known as Chapter 20: The Shit Hath Hitith the Fan...ith. Another monster of a chapter. As per usual with my flashback chapters, tons of character development (as opposed to the present-day chapters, which are mostly plot-driven). Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Thanks for your support, as always. Also, Bekah's dress was inspired by the Curtain Dress from Gone with the Wind. ~ L