Hey guys,
I can't stress it enough just how hard I worked to get this chapter out as fast as absolutely possible. And it was all because of your kind and encouraging reviews.
I never imagined people would care to read this story that I came up with so long ago, and I definetely hadn't expected people to like it and root for me to keep it going. It's insane how long it took me to gather enough courage to publish this, had I known then what a welcoming and supporting community we have here - the fic would have been out ages ago. Isn't it sad how we tend to focus on all the ways some things could go wrong, so much so that we don't dare to even take the chance in the first place...?
What I'm trying to say is: thank you! You are incredibly inspirational and your words mean the world to me. I am so ridiculously excited for you all to read this chapter because we are now finally entering the next part of the story. And it is my favorite.
I am dying to hear what you think of it so please do let me know in the reviews! That's enough rambling for now, this chapter is long enough without it haha...
I hope you enjoy it, see you soon. xx
Ps. the rating earns its M from here on out. Ds.
Chapter 21: While the water is rising
Two weeks ago
Faro, Portugal
The sun was starting to set as Bonnie prepared the final ingredients for the spell. Her phone ringing again and making her sigh as she reluctantly ignored yet another of Enzo's calls. Having lost count by now of just how many.
"I could only find enough lotus for one of us." Clara told her as she stood before her in the thick forest, markings made up of rocks and herbs on the ground in the form of a pentagram between them.
She met the Portuguese's alarmed eyes with a smile. "That's fine. I'll be doing this part myself."
"You should bring someone with you." she suggested, yet again. Earning a sigh from the Bennett then.
"I've been through the veil before, Clara. Trust me, I'll be fine." she told her with a reassuring squeeze of her hand. "As soon as Damon gets back, we can get started."
Clara nodded at that and focused on plucking the petals of her flowers, placing them under each of the rocks on the ground with a rhythmic chant. Focusing the energy needed to fill the pentagram and complete the spell. The other witch studied her movements and made sure to store them away in her memory. Hoping she wouldn't need to use the same ritual in the future but still preparing for it just in case. "How long will I have?" she asked her as the Duarte witch finished her preparations.
"Not long, unfortunately." Clara sighed before straightening up and looking her over from top to toe. "One hour, maybe two if we're lucky."
"As long as everything works out, I won't need to worry about time management." she mused, much more for her own benefit than anything else. She was starting to feel nervous about the plan, especially when it forced her to keep lying to-
The thought was cut off as her phone rang again, her heart breaking a little at reading his name on the screen. Desperately wanting to hear his voice, since it usually had a way of inciting confidence in lieu of the angst she was feeling as of now. But she knew that picking up his call wouldn't bring her any comfort whatsoever, but only an earful of scolding. Not to mention that he would show up in the blink of an eye and sweep her away to another continent as soon as she told him where she was.
"You're late." Clara's voice interrupted her anxious thoughts as Damon joined them then, wearing a firm expression on his face and carrying a bag in his hands.
"Had to make sure I wasn't followed." he countered and glanced over at Bonnie pointedly. Telling her exactly whom he had been avoiding while getting there.
"Did you get it?" she asked him as the vampire set the bag down and kneeled to open it up. Revealing the contents to her with a nod.
"As many medical kick-starting vials as I could get my hands on."
"No defibrillator?" Clara questioned, making Bonnie grimace at the witch.
"Let's just stick with the adrenaline. I don't really like the thought of getting electrocuted..." she explained while sharing an understanding nod with Damon then.
"Is everything else set up?" he asked them and sighed deeply when they both nodded in response. "Do you really have to do this, Bon?"
She smiled as her friend repeated the question for the umpteenth time that night. His worry clear on his grimacing face as she nodded to him yet again. "Clara says she can give me an hour. Maybe two."
"Will that be enough?"
"Hopefully." she sighed to him before turning to Clara. "Let's begin."
The witch nodded and lit candles around them with the snap of her fingers as Bonnie stepped inside the pentagram. Her legs steady despite her trembling heart and worried mind. Clara closed her eyes and drew her hands out before she began chanting, with her face turned up towards the moonlit sky.
The air quickly shifted around them, clearly unnerving Damon as he studied the Bennett witch with sad eyes. She tried to smile at him but felt the energy close in on her, wrapping around her heart and gripping it tightly. A pained gasp escaped her as she fell to her knees, the winds circling her violently as Clara continued her chants. Lightning hit the ground near them as Bonnie began to see the results before her in the form of a heavy fog. White and thick, it swept around her and drowned out everything else from her vision.
Finally, she felt her heart stop and for a short moment everything went black. Abruptly, she opened her eyes wide as she took in her new surroundings. The opening of a dark cave with a single candle lit on the ground by her feet. It would work as a guide for later, so that she knew where to return when her time was up.
Then she took a steeling breath as she did what she hadn't expected to do again for at least a decade or two… She entered the cave and crossed the veil of the living onto the supernatural 'Other Side'.
Present day
New Orleans, Louisiana
The argument could be heard throughout the entire manor. Despite Caroline and Enzo being on another side of the building and even despite Klaus' efforts to avoid listening in. Their raised voices were just hard to ignore.
Her friend had showed up mere minutes ago upon Caroline's request, bewildered as to why she had interrupted their plan for him to go to Baton Rouge. The confusion quickly turned into outrage as she explained what she had learned in his short absence. Klaus imagined it would have made for an even stronger reaction if Freya had been present to greet the lad herself, something the hybrid couldn't help but regret having missed out on. But fortunately for everyone involved, she and Elijah had quickly made themselves scarce in order to inform Marcel of what little information they had about Lucien's current plans.
He sat in an armchair, nursing a glass of bourbon when his sister returned and joined him. The expression on her face confirming Klaus' suspicions of the yelling being loud enough for human hearing to receive it as well. "Are those your guests screaming the roof off the house, Niklaus?" she asked, watching him carefully as he merely shrugged in response. A loud phrase cutting them both off before he could respond.
"Do you realize that we wasted days running around in circles and chasing our own tails, when all we had to do was go visit your damned boyfriend!?"
Klaus had to fight the smirk that threatened to form on his face at the words. Instead nodding towards Freya with amused eyes. "I believe this may take a while, sister. Why don't you call and get dinner prepared?" he suggested then, smiling shortly as he spoke again. "And please be a dear and make sure that two more seats are added to the table."
She studied him in silence for a long moment before finally nodding and leaving the room then. Forcing him to resist listening in to the arguing pair of vampires yet again as he went to refill his glass. Luckily, the voices were abruptly silenced and replaced by footsteps. Leading through the halls slowly before reaching him and stopping a short distance away. He didn't need to turn around to identify his company, smirking a little to himself as she stood in silence while he filled up a second glass.
"I see you've returned from the battle unscathed and alone." he noted amusedly, earning a sigh as the vampire crossed the room and slumped down in the sofa near him. He handed a glass to her, receiving an exasperated frown before she slowly accepted it. "Should I snap his neck and force him to spend a good half hour cooling off?" he asked, smiling again as she let out a tired scoff in response before he returned to his seat.
"I haven't been yelled at like that since before my mother died." she groaned into her glass with a grimace.
He couldn't resist chuckling a little as he watched her guilt-stricken face. "I can actually say that I have experienced similar lectures myself over the centuries. If not worse."
"Well, unlike you, I'm not really used to being scolded." she snickered back, a little flash of humor coloring her eyes as she looked over at him.
"I sense some blame directed my way over this particular incidence." he mused with a teasing tone.
"For good reason!" she quipped, causing him to chuckle deeply at her flustered face.
"You did say that you wanted to meet the family, love. I am hardly at fault for the evident results of it taking place. As much as I hate to admit it, this was all out of my control." he pointed out, earning a groan from her as she slumped deeper into the couch then.
"Yeah, yeah… I know." she muttered before finishing her drink in one final swoop.
He stood up slowly, taking the empty glass from her and placing it on the table along with his own. "Let me show you something." he chimed, smirking over at her before reaching his hand out. "It might help cheer you up."
She visibly debated with herself for a moment, chewing on her lower lip as she studied his offered hand. Finally coming to a decision, she stood up and held onto him then. He barely gave her a second to reconsider before he flashed them both up the stairs and all the way to his studio.
A soft gasp escaped her as she realized where they were suddenly standing. He let go of her and nodded ahead, urging her to explore the room further. That earned him a bright grin as she walked past him, her eyes taking in the scattered easels amongst numerous tables and desks with stacks of pads and papers.
He fought against the sudden modesty he felt while her delicate fingers picked and browsed over some drawings while silently taking in the labors of his work. It was something he still hadn't quite gotten used to; sharing his art with others. It felt akin to bearing your soul, unsure of whether the receiver would act kindly towards the findings or rip your spirit apart in reaction instead.
However, the sweet smile on her face put him to ease as she picked up one of the sketches and looked over at him. "This is Mystic Falls." she stated, earning a nod from him as she looked back over at the woods he had captured on paper long ago.
"You were always as clever as you were observant." he replied softly while he joined her side. Studying her as she continued to flip through the different pages, her eyes slightly narrowed and lips in a tiny pout as she examined the motives closely.
For a moment, he forgot the reason he had brought her there and instead found himself desperate to draw out the easy moment between them. "These are just the ones I choose to leave out in the open." he told her as he watched her, trying to gage her reaction to both his words and the drawings before her. "I happen to keep some away from prying eyes."
"Yeah?" she snickered playfully. "Don't tell me that means you're hiding away some secret portraits of the history's most interesting royalties or something. I never really took you for an attention-shy man."
He looked up to catch her eyes then, smiling warmly as she shook her head in disbelief. A sound from across the house reached him shortly, turning his smile wider as he nudged her side. "So..." he crooned as she turned some sketches over in her hands. "I couldn't help but notice Enzo's absence after your... spat."
She put the papers down attentively before turning towards him and leaning her hip against the desk beside them. "Yeah, he'll meet up with me later. When he stops hating my guts, that is." she sighed out exasperatedly.
"Hopefully it won't take too long. Dinner will be ready soon." he pointed out nonchalantly.
"Is that your way of kicking me out?" she teased with feigned hurt on her face.
"I would never!" he gasped in mock outrage as he pressed a palm over his heart.
"I should probably go look for Enzo soon and…" she began but stopped when she met his smile. "You already prepared for the both of us to eat with your family tonight, didn't you?"
He only smiled at that, earning a chuckle from her as she returned her attention to the art again. "Caroline..." he spoke carefully, turning to mimic her stance against the desk with crossed arms over his chest. Hoping she would remain at ease long enough for him to get a reply to the question he was dying to ask. "Why exactly did you decide against coming to me from the start?"
"We've already had this conversation, Klaus."
"Have we?" he countered with a raised eyebrow. "I don't remember getting any kind of explanation from you then, and you were unwilling to give one to your friend just now."
She let out a sigh and tapped her fingernails over the wood rhythmically before meeting his eyes again. "I think... Maybe, for the same reason that you felt the need to apologize for our past." she said slowly. "Things have never been easy between us, Klaus. Or even friendly for most of the time that we've known each other."
The words were painfully honest, scratching at the walls around his undead heart as he studied her with a frown. "Does that mean we could never start over? Turn a new page and move forward?" he murmured, feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable suddenly.
"No, we probably could." she shrugged before taking a deep breath. "I just don't think we can achieve that by continuing to go along like we always have and just expecting things to change on their own. And I guess I was trying to keep us from falling back into the same old patterns. Me asking you for something, despite the fact that I don't necessarily deserve to. You helping, even if it may be some scheme from the others that could cause you harm…"
"Does that mean you wish for things to change?" he pressed on, moving closer as he analyzed her blue eyes with bated breath. Unsure which answer he wished for exactly. The seconds until she spoke up pushing his patience to its furthest limit.
"Yes." she finally said. "But it's your turn now."
He chuckled at that, letting out some of the nerves that had gathered momentarily as he watched her determined face. "You're asking a thousand-year-old man to change, love?"
"No, just... To try."
"And how can I do that?"
She looked away from him temporarily, her eyes focusing on the desk and drawing his to do the same. Studying their hands on the desk then as they seemed to have inched closer slowly. "You could start by telling me why you left Dallas without saying goodbye." she suggested softly, causing him to close his eyes in a long inhale as the memory was brought up again and filled his mind. The night he'd thought she would actually die and disappear from his life - forever.
It wasn't something he enjoyed to revisit, and he couldn't understand why she found it potent to do so now. He reached out to her, deciding to try and explain his state of mind back then but unsure of where to begin. His fingers drew lines across the back of her hand while he thought it over, surprising him when she didn't move away in reaction to his touch. Not meeting her gaze as he instead focused on her heartbeat while it raced in his ears.
He knew he may have gone too far. He knew she would pull away from him, both physically and otherwise. But wasn't that how their dance always went? He would push closer until she eventually pulled back, and then he was left to re-estimate the next move before he tried something similar again.
Always one step forward, two steps back. And now was no different.
Except she didn't turn away. He waited, nearly froze in anticipation of it. But her hand was still on the same spot, his fingers dancing over her knuckles freely. A tiny victory, but one nonetheless. His chest swelled for a moment as he enjoyed the closeness between them. Even if it would only last a second longer, it was still such a contrast to how they used to be so long ago. And it gave him some hope, that perhaps she was right. Perhaps they could actually succeed in changing things between them after all this time.
"I was worried." he let himself admit, noticing her eyebrows furrowing in response. He glanced down at their hands again, continuing to venture slightly higher up her wrist and smiling in content at the reaction her skin gave him. Small goosebumps spreading over her arm and tempting him to follow their path. "To quote a very wise young vampire; things have never been easy between us." he chimed, earning a little smirk from her as he spoke. "And I was supposed to stay away, after all."
"But you didn't." she pointed out quietly, making him nod in response.
"Well… I reckoned it would be far preferable than to stand back and watch you die." With that, he looked up at her again. Watching her parted lips and wide eyes as she studied him in return. He tried to name the emotions she expressed on her beautiful face but fell short.
"So, you thought my wellbeing was more important than keeping your promise? Even if it meant that I might hate you for it?"
He didn't need to think before he replied. "Of course." he told her with a determined nod. Sighing as he looked away shortly, trying to rephrase the thoughts in his mind and find the right words to express himself.
"You… you have a habit of putting yourself in the crossfire, love. Especially when it comes to that little lot from your hometown. And more often than not, they never seem to have your best interest at heart." he added, his body moving closer to her as if having been drawn in by an invisible rope. She always did call to him, like a siren pulling him through dark and stormy waters.
"But I always will, Caroline. Of that you can be certain." he stated genuinely, mesmerized by the color of her eyes as he found himself so close to her now.
It surprised him that she still hadn't pulled away. He wanted to stay like this for as long as she would let him, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin under his fingers and the wonderful scent surrounding his senses. And it worried him that any moment now they would break apart and he would be left with the hollow feeling of loneliness and rejection in his chest.
"You know, for once, you're actually right." she said, a light and breathy chuckle escaping her then. The small smile on her lips making him grin in return. "It's something I've come to recognize over the past few years."
"What's that, love?" he asked, holding his breath momentarily as he hoped he hadn't broken the trance by speaking again.
"That..." she begun, her eyes roaming over his face in a way that brought a little flutter to his stomach. "People let you down. And when they do, you have no one else to blame but yourself."
He blinked in surprise at that. It wasn't what he had expected from her and it felt far too cynical a thing for her to say. The bright and courageous woman, who was so filled with strength and hope, it didn't fit her to believe something like that. And he found himself deeply disliking it.
"You once told me that everyone – even someone as irrevocably evil as myself – is capable of being saved." he noted, hoping her heart hadn't hardened too much over the years. Hoping she hadn't been broken, the way that he had been. He would give anything to make sure that never happened.
"I was younger then. Naive. Blue-eyed..." she sighed, shaking her head and causing her curls to spread the smell of lilies and pears further. Making it hard to resist leaning in those final inches... Those few centimeters... Just a little more...
But he remained cautious. He had to. He had been down this road too many times to not be wise enough to hold himself back. One misstep and she would throw those walls up again, pushing him far away and making the travel back tougher each and every time. "I prefer to see you hopeful, Caroline." he whispered instead, drawing her eyes up to focus on him. "It suits you, to believe there is good in all the people around you. And with that ferocity of yours too." he smirked, earning a scoff before he continued with a slightly more serious tone.
"Don't lose your faith in others merely due to past disappointments, love." he said softly, his eyes willing her to let him stay in her proximity despite his demanding words. "I happen to know first-hand how difficult it is to regain such a view of the world once you've closed yourself up for long enough."
"You're not like that now." she told him, making him chuckle lightly in surprise.
"What makes you say that?"
"You let me in."
His amusing smile faltered at that, turning him to study her closely again. "Well, you happen to be a rare exception to the rule, sweetheart." he smirked. Feeling a pleasant warmth spread through his chest as she returned with a brilliant smile of her own.
"Am I?" she challenged him, her eyelashes fluttering as she viewed him through them. The look tugging at his heart and making his fingers itch as he felt an overwhelming impulse to recreate it on paper. "You don't have any other baby-vampires hidden away somewhere whom you give expensive jewelry and pretty sketches to?" she teased, making him shake his head in a chuckle.
A flash of memory passed through his mind shortly, and for a moment he wondered if he should bring up Camille. She had reacted so delightfully irritated at the mention of her name earlier. But he wasn't sure if it was all due to some concealed jealousy or if it had been something else entirely. Either way, he felt no need to make her think of Cami as a threat of any kind and didn't feel any hurry to bring it back up.
Even though he still waited for her to pull away, he couldn't stop himself from raising his hand to play lightly with the hem on her blouse. He wanted to hold onto her waist and pull her close but restrained himself. Settling on the fabric as he hoped she wouldn't mind his new focus all too much. The momentary silence was interrupted when she spoke up again.
"Promise me something, Klaus." she murmured, her breath hitting his face and drawing his eyes to her lips. "Promise to trust me, trust that I know what I'm doing. Or at the very least, trust me enough to do things my way. Promise you won't take matters into your own hands or go on with some plan of your own just because you think you know what's best… Trust me."
"That… is a lot to ask of me, Caroline."
"I realize that…" she whispered. "But I'm asking you anyway."
Struggling for a moment, he fought with himself over his answer. Of course, he wanted to trust her, to give her what she needed from him. Hell, he was unable to deny her anything. But he wanted to say yes and mean it, and that was where he stumbled. "I promise to try." he finally said, hoping it would be sufficient for now.
He noted a short sigh of displeasure from her, clearly she had expected more from him. And the reality of that both saddened and pleased him. He was glad she thought of him as more than he was, but at the same time he lived in constant fear of never quite being enough. A smile finally spread over her lips, taking his breath away. She leaned in and surprised him as she wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.
It took a second for him to act in return, but soon he held her close to him in a tight hug. Tilting his face into her hair as she rested her chin against his shoulder. He let out a heavy breath, realizing he had been on edge. Worried about her reaction perhaps, but he wasn't sure. All he knew was that every bit of tension in his body left him immediately, making him feel light and free of troubles as he held her in his arms. Even if his life depended on it, he would not have been able to tell how long they stood like that. It could have been seconds or hours. All he knew was that he desperately wanted to prolong it, to never let her go...
But Klaus knew that his luck wouldn't last for long, it never had. Deciding to get ahead of it, and thereby saving himself some of the dismissal, he pushed her back slowly by her shoulders. Smiling at her as she looked baffled and possibly even regretful of their separation. "Why don't I show you some more of the property before dinner, sweetheart?"
She blinked for a few moments before nodding with a timid smile. "Yeah, yeah sure."
He stepped to the side then, creating more space between them as he gestured for her to walk out first. Receiving a nod before she headed in the given direction, him following close behind with a dazed smile. Wondering just how the earlier moment had occurred - and how he could make a similar one happen again. Soon.
Two weeks ago
The Other Side
The dark tunnel ahead was longer than Bonnie expected, and she felt like she had already lost a lot of time by simply walking through it. But of course, no one ever promised that touring the other side would be an easy trip. Especially for the temporarily dead.
She had been trying to avoid the shadows that lurked in the darkness around her, but the whispers were getting harder and harder to ignore. And when she suddenly recognized one of the voices, she couldn't keep her focus any longer.
"You were supposed to stay out of this business, child."
Her entire body froze up as she heard it. She looked over her shoulder. Trying to determine whether she had time to take a short detour or if she should keep her attention on the road ahead.
But when she was met with the face of her beloved Grams, she had a hard time reminding herself what she was doing and why. "Please, don't try to stop me." she whispered to the ghost before her, her heart aching at the sight as she wanted nothing more than to run into her arms and stay with her for as long as she could.
"I won't." she replied. "I'm here to make sure you do not get stuck alongside me."
"We have a plan, Grams."
The older witch shook her head in disbelief at that. "How is it possible that with each passing year you grow more and more into the mature and strong woman I always knew you would become… And yet, you are just as stubborn and self-sacrificing as ever?"
"Were you hoping that I'd be egotistical and self-absorbed instead?" she teased lightly as her grandmother continued to frown at her with sad eyes. Sighing deeply as she chose to push on for now and look past the obvious disappointment that her past role model directed her way. "Will you help me?"
"I will." she replied begrudgingly. "But I expect you to run right back out of here the second you are finished with what you came to do."
Bonnie couldn't resist the relieved grin that spread over her face at that as she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the elder woman tightly. "I miss you." she whispered against her shoulder as Grams returned the hug.
"I know, sweet child." she told her softly and leaned back to look her over then. Holding the young witch's face in her hands with a warm smile. "Come on, let's go find that wretched man before your time is up."
Nodding shortly, Bonnie accepted her hand and followed the woman further into the darkness with rushed steps. They were quick to reach the end of the tunnel then, finding themselves in the middle of a wide Czech square. It was dark around them and the streetlights appeared dimmed and flickering. Bonnie couldn't decide if that was just their perspective from within the veil or reality.
They noticed a group of vampires by the end, one of whom she recognized immediately, the others blurring away as she glared at him. Rage vibrating in her entire body at the sight of the man who had been terrorizing her and her friends for the past five years…
"Focus, Bonnie." Grams urged her as she noted that the young witch's emotions had begun to reach out through the veil. Flowers had started to wilt by their feet and a strong wind blew into the open space. "You can't afford to have them notice you."
She gritted her teeth and clenched her knuckles tightly as she fought to regain control of herself. But the smug and wicked smirk on Julian's face made it extremely difficult. "I would give anything to kill him right here and now." she whispered harshly under her breath.
"Then you should be prepared to give your life." she pointed out, reminding her to reel her powers in before the anger took over. "You know the rules, Bonnie. Don't use too much of your magic or they will anchor you to the Other Side."
"I know..." the young woman sighed and shook her head shortly. "Let's just hope he gives us something useful, soon."
Her grandmother nodded towards her approvingly before they both went to follow the vampire as he walked away from the group then. Julian rounded a corner before he stopped and took his phone out, seemingly responding to an incoming call.
"Well? Have you arrived yet?" he said into the phone, the response inaudible to the witches as they studied him while he suddenly lost his temper. "What does that mean!?" he hissed sharply before becoming silent as he listened to the caller.
"Don't you dare return empty-handed, Troy." Julian hissed out before hanging up and dialing another number immediately. His phone up by his ear again in a second.
"Tell me you have made progress with our guests." Another short silence passed before he spoke again. "I don't care. Get answers or kill them!" he snarled out before running a hand over his face and exhaling deeply.
"Who is he talking about?" Bonnie wondered aloud, asking mostly herself but still looking over at the other witch as if she had any answers to give.
"Fine, I'll send someone." he interrupted then before hanging up the phone. Turning away and whistling to the vampires by the square and waving them over. "Micah, Peter! Sam needs an extra pair of hands." The men smirked wickedly before nodding and walking away, most likely headed to join this 'Sam'. Julian stayed behind though, typing something on his phone before entering a building nearby.
It took her grandmother a moment to realize that Bonnie was still standing in the same spot, her eyes scanning the backs of the vampires as they walked down the dark street. A strange feeling in her gut told her to follow them and it fought with the logical part of her then.
"Come on, Bonnie. We're losing him." Grams called out to her, but she shook her head in reply.
"Something's going on." she said before walking in the opposite direction of the man they were supposed to follow - instead hurrying behind the two vampires whom Julian had sent away.
"Bonnie!" the older witch called out to her and ran to catch up, grabbing her arm tightly to stop her. "Don't do this, honey. You can't afford to get distracted by other matters. Focus on the goal ahead."
"I have this feeling, Grams... I have to find out where they're going. Who they're meeting with." she insisted with pleading eyes. "It won't take long, and we'll be right back here with time to spare."
"You can't be sure of that, Bonnie." she protested as the young Bennett pulled out of her grasp.
"You said you weren't going to stand in my way. So please, Grams, don't." she begged her then. The witch watched her with a frown for a long moment before she nodded in defeat.
Bonnie smiled with relief and grabbed her hand. "Come on." she murmured before they sprinted to follow the men. A voice in the back of her head told her it would be risky, it may even take up too much of her already limited time… But the weird turning in her stomach prompted her to continue. She needed to see what was going on, convinced that she wouldn't be able to let it go otherwise.
So, in some ways, even if she couldn't afford to waste time on investigating this further – she also couldn't afford not to.
Present day
New Orleans, Louisiana
The dinner was one of the most extravagant spreads Caroline had ever seen. She had barely had the time to see the whole of the third story before Enzo returned to the mansion and they were all called to be seated. When she saw the turnout, she was torn between surprise and the thought 'what else?' Realizing it wasn't strange for the Mikaelson family to host something so refined and luxurious, but feeling impressed by the result nonetheless. Every kind of Cajun and southern foods one could possibly imagine was present on the decorated table. All spread amongst the various candles and flower arrangements. Servers stood by the far end of the room, patiently awaiting instructions and attempting to blend into the wall until then.
Klaus and Elijah sat at opposite heads of the table, speaking volumes of their positions in the family. Freya sat between them on one side, Caroline and Enzo were placed on the other with Caroline by Klaus' right. Her friend was still a little upset after their argument, but he was considerably calmer now that the Mikaelson's had invited him into his home. Hoping they would be willing to help them find and rescue Bonnie. A part of Caroline wondered if he didn't also secretly wish they would want to assist them in bringing Julian down as well.
She couldn't help but glance at the empty chair by Freya with a frown, once again wondering why she hadn't seen Rebekah yet. Did they have a falling out? Was the Original blonde lying daggered somewhere in the basement? Would she walk past some rooms and suddenly find her in a coffin with her skin grey and cold?
Enzo was too caught up in filling his plate to notice her absent thoughts, but Klaus cast her a glance in acknowledgment. "What's on that brilliant mind of yours, love?" he asked softly, a smirk on his face as she bit her lip to avoid a blush at his flattering words.
"I'm just wondering where my old cheer-rival is." she said with a shrug. "Not hiding from me, I hope."
The question appeared to be a much more loaded one than expected. The Mikaelson's all froze for a moment, throwing eyes at each other before Elijah cleared his throat ceremoniously. "Rebekah isn't available for the time being." he said in a firm tone that forced all follow-up questions back down her throat.
Nodding in response, she made sure to busy herself with her plate instead. Smirking a little at Enzo as she noticed his pleased expression with the wide selection of delicacies before them. She was filling up with rice, fried shrimp and grilled vegetables when a server showed up to fill her glass with a fitting white wine.
"Thanks." she said to the petite, elder woman and smiled at her kindly. She seemed a bit thrown off before giving the vampire a smile in return, quickly disappearing to the back of the room afterwards. Caroline turned towards the table again and froze up as she was met with strange expressions by the others. Freya and Elijah had nearly identical looks of intrigue while Enzo rolled his eyes before smirking over at her.
It was Klaus' face that affected her the most, as he sat with a little secretive smile on his lips while he watched her over the rim of his glass. "What?" she chuckled nervously then, gaining a shake of his head in response. Wondering shortly if the Originals ever actually thanked their own staff, and rolling her eyes as she imagined the answer to that.
The hybrid seemed to understand her thinking and smirked deeply, winking at her before Elijah drew their attention to him. "Now, why don't we all get acquainted with each other?" the older brother suggested politely, gesturing for the table to begin the pleasantries, and ending his glance in Enzo's direction. "Mr. St. John. Tell us, where did you come from?"
"Seemingly out of nowhere." Klaus snarked, making Caroline narrow her eyes at him in response. He seemed unbothered by it and only continued to grin at her amusedly while Enzo spoke up to answer the question.
"I grew up near Southampton, England." he said while sipping his wine. "However, I am unsure of where I was born. Since I had been an orphan with no family to speak of from the start and the hospitals kept no such records at the time." he explained, the story news to Caroline as she studied him as intently as the others.
"My lack of a parental home made for a low status in society, forcing me into a workhouse by the age of four. I stayed there until fourteen, when I finally managed to escape the owner. Of course, the streets ended up being much more difficult a home despite my newfound freedom." he went on, a flicker of dark sadness crossing his face as he seemed to relive it shortly. "For the next few years, I fought to survive. Living off of scraps and taking whatever actions necessary to get by. Until the year of 1903, when I had finally saved enough money for one ticket on a ship towards America. However, since I was dying of consumption at the time, the money didn't matter much. And I was denied passage on the ship."
"That's when Lily saved you." Caroline chimed in, recognizing the story then and remembering what had followed.
"Yes." he confirmed with a short smile. "Lily Salvatore. She helped me board the ship despite my illness. By the time we arrived at Manhattan Harbor, I had been turned into a vampire."
"Lily Salvatore?" Klaus repeated, his eyes moving between Enzo and Caroline slowly. "How did she cross your path exactly? Shouldn't she have been living in America by then?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Enzo replied honestly. "But she disappeared before I ever woke up. Leaving without so much as a goodbye, nor any advice on how to handle my new… condition."
"Caroline mentioned that you had been captured by the Augustine Society." the hybrid mentioned, causing her to curse his tongue when she noticed Enzo flinching at the words. "I am curious to learn of your successful escape from that persistent and sadistic little foundation."
"Yes, last I heard they were keeping a rather low profile." Elijah added with a thoughtful nod. "I assumed they had been eradicated decades ago."
"Nope. Try years." Caroline chipped then with a shrug when Klaus raised an eyebrow at her words. "The last of them are gone now, that's what matters."
"And what of you, Ms. Forbes?" Freya asked with a cold face and no-nonsense voice. The resemblances with Elijah strikingly clear to the female vampire then.
"What about me?" she asked with an uncertain expression.
"What of your story, love?" the witch explained then, making Caroline bite back a chuckle as she echoed Klaus' favorite endearment.
"Well, my parents were William and Elizabeth Forbes. I grew up in Mystic Falls. Was turned before I got the chance to reach eighteen, which sucked..." she grimaced before moving on with a shrug. "And what, ten years later? Here I am. Not at all as interesting as you probably hoped for."
"And how did you end up becoming such close friends with Niklaus?" she pressed on, a strange look in her hazel eyes at the word 'friend' that did not go unnoticed by the other blonde.
"Oh, he tried to sacrifice me when breaking the hybrid curse." she replied then, making Enzo turn to her with a shocked expression. "Did I not mention that?" she chuckled, patting his shoulder lightly. "And when I was freed, he killed my friend's aunt to fulfill the whole 'vampire' part of the ritual. Oh, and then he turned my boyfriend into a hybrid and used the sire-bond to get him to bite me – nearly killing me again. And on my birthday too."
Elijah chuckled shortly, the tiny smile on his face still the biggest Caroline had seen from the vampire until now. He shook his head before turning to Freya. "Yes, you may have missed quite a few interesting mementos over the years before you returned to our family, dear sister."
"And yet she never felt the urge to have her revenge on the man who caused her such pain in the past?" the witch asked, her eyes turned to Caroline despite not addressing her directly.
"Of course, I did." the young vampire scoffed. "We tried to kill him like hundreds of times and alas-!" she waved over at the hybrid in question then. Earning a smirk from him in return, having been uncharacteristically quite during her rundown of their history together.
The female Mikaelson was staring at him with parted lips until he finally let out a deep sigh and turned to her shocked face with a relaxed smile. "I assure you, Freya; it is all water under the bridge now."
"I would say." Freya sneered, earning a frown from the other blonde then.
"Sister." Klaus muttered low, causing her to sigh and lean back in her chair with arms crossed over her chest.
"What, Niklaus? Am I to avoid the red flags glaring up at me from this side of the table?" she nodded over at the blonde with a cold chuckle. "I have but very limited knowledge to compare her information with after all." she scowled then. Her temper clearly another thing that she had earned from the Mikaelson genes.
"What does that mean?" Caroline asked, not appreciating the backhanded comments and snide eye rolls that were directed her way.
"It means that from what I have seen, you are still not someone I would trust the safety of my family with."
"Freya-" Klaus began but was intercepted immediately.
"What are you talking about!? You met me like two minutes ago, how can you possibly dislike me this much already?"
"Caroline-" Klaus tried then but the other blonde cut him off.
"Oh, this is not the first I've seen of you, darling. Although, Niklaus' mind must have grossly romanticized your character after the past years. Considering how I am still nowhere near as impressed by you as my brothers appear to be. Although, they may be somewhat easier to win over in comparison, since I am not quite as perceptible to your charms as Klaus here is."
Caroline felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured over her back while she stared at the woman with a slack jaw. "What?" she breathed before turning to glare at the hybrid in question with wide eyes. "Wait… What am I missing here, Klaus?"
He leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers with a sigh. Clearly unable to meet her gaze, but whether it was from embarrassment or guilt, she couldn't decide. "Klaus?" she pressed, a little more force to her voice this time. Growing impatient as she studied the man with narrowed eyes.
"Is it too late to exchange the wine for something stronger?" She heard Enzo ask one of the servers, making her turn to glare at him instead. "What? I'm not going to enjoy this show half as much without some bourbon!" he exclaimed in his defense, causing her to groan shortly in response.
"You're supposed to side with me, Enzo." she pointed out.
"Gorgeous, there are no sides here. Surely you can see that." he shot back with a shrug just as the older brother suddenly spoke up from his side of the table.
"Let's move on." he chimed with a surprisingly civilized tone. "Ms. Forbes, I hear you have been living in Chicago as of–"
"With all due respect, Elijah…" she scoffed out as she held up a palm towards him. "I'm going to need an explanation. I mean, I would drag Klaus out to talk somewhere in private, but you would all probably still hear every word anyway. So…"
She turned to the hybrid slowly and nodded at him with a pointed look. He let out a long sigh before finally meeting her eyes and deciding to answer. "A few years ago, Freya needed a source of magic to anchor herself to during an exceptionally difficult spell. Elijah and I acted as such, and when we did, she was allowed entry into our minds."
Blinking slowly, she watched him as he suddenly dropped her gaze before explaining further. "Our pasts, present. Our thoughts and dreams… Everything."
"What?" she chuckled nervously, turning silent as the words sunk in. Her cheeks threatening to turn crimson red then as she understood what it all meant. "I see." she muttered to herself, suddenly regretting having spoken at all as the tension in the room grew impossibly awkward in the speed of light.
"Right, okay…" she breathed out, clearing her throat and quickly choosing to take Elijah's previous advice after all. "Let's start over!" she announced, her pageant smile already plastered on her face as she looked over at Freya again.
"So, apparently you're distrusting and suspicious. And that's not an insult at all, because I realize that it runs in the family..." she ranted on and shrugged her shoulders.
"But that's not me." she noted, earning a quirked eyebrow from the witch before she continued. "I'm not like you Mikaelson's. I don't do double-meanings or hidden messages or complicated metaphors. And so, I would much rather prefer it if you could let me prove myself to you. Instead of adding more fuel to some passive-aggressive fire that does none of us any good."
The woman blinked a few times, perhaps confused at having her temper received with such a calm and collected tone... Or maybe she was still trying to figure the young vampire out and considered this to be a curveball of some sort. Either way, the irritation visibly washed off of her before she spoke up. "Fair enough." she said with a nod. A much lighter tone of voice than earlier. "I have questions."
"Hit me." Caroline urged on, clasping her hands together on the table as she waited leisurely.
"What do you want from Lucien?"
"We need an object that we believe is in his possession." Caroline explained honestly. "The Candle of Hades."
"What do you need it for?"
"A friend of ours has been taken, and the man holding her is using some really strong and strange magic to conceal them both. We think that the candle can break through his cloaking spell and lead us to her."
Freya furrowed her eyes for a moment, her lips pouting lightly as she seemed to think it over. Assessing whether she believed them or not... The silence drew on a second too long for Caroline's comfort and she found herself speaking again.
"Klaus and I searched Lucien's place and didn't find it there. It's possible that, even though Lucien doesn't have the candle himself, he may at least know where it is. Especially since it turns out that he is hiding a bunch of other cursed objects similar to it..." she explained. Glancing shortly at the hybrid in question as he seemed occupied studying his sister's reaction in turn. "I've been thinking that if we can get Lucien on our side, we could get him to help us find the candle. And maybe even Bonnie."
"And this Bonnie..." Freya said then, leaning forward on her knuckles as she propped her elbows up on the table. "How do you plan to break her free? If there is such powerful magic involved, how do you intend to apprehend this…-"
"Julian." Caroline filled in before Freya continued.
"-Julian. What is your plan to get past him and save your friend?"
"We were going to ask Marcel for help."
"Marcel?" Elijah echoed then; his eyes directed at his younger brother. An analyzing expression on his face as he seemed to try and find the answer ahead of time.
"Yeah, he's the King or whatever." Caroline shrugged as she explained further. "He clearly has a lot of connections and we were hoping that he'd be willing to help us."
"You never thought to ask Niklaus?" Freya pressed on, something playing over her face that struck the younger girl as amusement of some kind.
"No." she confessed with a deep breath. "Our friends wanted us to reach out to your family, but I was trying to avoid that for as long as possible."
"Which begs the question-" Elijah chimed in again, his calculating eyes seemingly scanning Caroline inch by inch. "Why?"
"That's between me and Klaus." she replied curtly, surprising even herself for a moment with the sternness of her tone.
A silence stretched out over the table, Enzo's eyes digged into Caroline's side and made her nervous to meet them. He sighed deeply and waved over one of the servants then. "Seriously, where is that whiskey?" he asked.
"We should focus on the matter at hand." Klaus decided as he quickly redirected the subject and turned to her with a serious face. "You will need a plan to get on Lucien's good side."
"Niklaus is right." Elijah nodded in agreement. "Lucien is not a freely trusting man. Whatever strategy you choose to approach him needs to be thoroughly considered beforehand."
"Not to mention that our family is on odd ends with him already." Freya added, earning a slow nod from Caroline.
"Well, he seems like any other narcissistic sociopath..." she snickered to herself, jumping suddenly at the sound of a bang from her side. She turned and watched Klaus as he took a deep breath, having apparently put his glass down on the table with such force that he nearly broke through the wood.
"You've met with him?" his voice was low and threatening as he continued to stare into his hands.
She opened her mouth, but Enzo's voice came out instead. "Oh, you bet."
All heads turned towards the man at that before the Mikaelson's began to gape at Caroline. Klaus spoke up first, leaning closer to her as he wore a hard scowl. "How could you not mention this to me?"
"I didn't think it mattered. I just ran into him on the street. We talked. He left. End of story."
"He has taken quite a fancy to her." Enzo filled in, hissing sharply as he earned a kick from Caroline under the table. "What? I thought we were putting all cards on the table!"
"Ms. Forbes." Elijah brought her eyes to his as he spoke with that calm and steady voice of his. "Lucien Castle is a very dangerous man. You would do best to not take this lightly."
"It's fine. I've been around far scarier relics than him before." she rolled her eyes and caught a little flash of a smile on Freya's face. "When we met, he acted like he was in complete control of the situation. As if I was talking to him because he had allowed it. Like everything was playing out the way he wanted it to… Lucien Castle thinks I'm some young and lost little lady in distress and that he holds all of the power between us. That is something I plan to use against him."
"How?" Klaus questioned, turning her to face him with a shrug. One which he clearly understood the meaning of immediately. "The blonde-distraction act won't work on him, sweetheart."
"Well, that's not the only move I have." she shot back, causing him to shake his head in response.
"No, you need to sway him to your side. You need to create a situation in which he chooses to aid you of his own accord. Not because you ask him to."
She fidgeted with her napkin as she thought it all over. "Okay..." she nodded to herself. "So... What you're saying is that if I were to - I don't know - get hurt? It would need to be his own decision to help me?"
Klaus' eyes narrowed as he watched her slowly then. Seemingly trying to look ahead and figure out where she was going... But she was too caught up thinking it all through to be bothered by him.
A situation where he could save her. Help her. Bring her in...
A way to convince him that he still has the upper hand. That he can keep her under his thumb. That proves that she is no threat to him whatsoever...
The thoughts ran quickly through her mind as an idea started to form in her head. One she knew wouldn't be popular with the others. One that was dangerous, risky, and as far from a safe bet as she could get.
But it was something she could handle. Something she could do. A way for her to get hurt in which not just any random person would be able to save her… And they had just discovered that Lucien has the means to do so.
Steeling herself, squaring her shoulders and looking over at Klaus with a serious face as she finally shared her conclusion with him. "You need to bite me."
Two weeks ago
The Other Side
Julian's lackeys led the Bennett witches to an industrial warehouse district just outside of Prague. A long line of storage units stretched before them on one side and large craters and containers were spread out on the other.
"Weren't they supposed to meet someone?" Bonnie asked her grandmother as they continued to follow the men while they walked past the units one by one. When she didn't get a response, the young witch thought aloud again. "Maybe Julian's dealing with human trafficking or smuggling goods to sell on the black market." she suggested, only receiving a passive expression from the older woman.
She stopped and nudged her grandmother then. "I know you don't like this, Grams…" she began with a sigh.
"No, Bonnie. I don't." she told her with a clipped tone. "I don't like seeing you roaming through the Other Side like this, with a ticking clock hanging over you and an exceptionally large bullseye on your back."
The men suddenly stopped before them, just by a unit labeled '#341'. Turning both women to watch them as they brought out a key and unlocked it. In silent agreement, they waited for the vampires as they struggled slightly with the garage-like door.
But soon it opened, shocking Bonnie to her core as she saw the contents inside. Stefan Salvatore and Valerie Tulle hung tied up from the ceiling. Their skin sizzling from contact with vervain-soaked ropes and their bodies covered in unhealed wounds. Between them stood a vampire, whom Bonnie assumed was the 'Sam' that had needed assistance by Micah and Peter. He walked up to the other men with a pleased smirk. But she couldn't take in what they were talking about. All she could do was stare and gape at her friends as Julian's vampires gathered by the prisoners together.
It wasn't until they let out pained groans that Bonnie was shaken out of her trance. "Oh my god." she whispered to herself, feeling her grandmother's hand on her shoulder. "He found them."
Sam walked over to a corner and sat in an armchair. His legs crossed over a box before him, and his attention focused solely on the phone in his hands. "Give it a go." he told the others nonchalantly. "Maybe you'll have better luck."
"No." Valerie whispered out in a raspy voice. The sound of it clawed at Bonnie's heart as she watched them in disbelief. One of the men, the one they had identified as Peter, walked over to a table near them. Blood-covered weapons laid spread out across it, as he seemed to try and pick out one to use himself.
"Please don't." the Heretic begged again as Peter grabbed a stake and turned to Stefan slowly, his eyes running over his battered and wounded body as if assessing where he could do the most harm.
"He can't take anymore." Val whined, but she was only met with a wicked set of eyes just as Peter stabbed Stefan in the stomach. Drawing out deep grunts from the man as Valerie continued to whimper out pleads with tear-filled eyes.
"We will stop when you tell us what we want to know." he muttered to her when the pained noises subsided.
"We don't know anything." she gritted out and tugged on the ropes around her wrists with a defeated sigh.
"That's funny… See, the boss-man seems to think you do." the other vampire, Micah, said with a cold chuckle. His arms folded over his chest and his head tilted slightly as he studied her.
"Bonnie." the older witch called for her granddaughter softly. "We need to leave. We still have time to go after Julian."
"What are you talking about!? Look at them!" Bonnie hissed out and stared at her Grams then. "I'm not going anywhere!"
Her grandmother closed her eyes in a grim frown and short nod. "I know this is difficult–"
"No." she protested, cutting her off as she turned back to her friends again. "We need to help them."
"It isn't safe…" she began to protest but was only met with a shaking head.
"We have to try!"
Their arguing was cut off by shrill screams from Valerie as Micah had turned his attention to her now. "Where is she!?" he growled at her in order to be heard above her loud voice.
"I don't know!" she cried out with heavy breaths. "Julian is lying to you. He does that. Trust me, I would know."
"Well, I'm finding that hard to believe. You, with your connections and your powers… You're telling me you have no knowledge of where the witch has disappeared to?" Micah pressed on. The words turned Bonnie's blood into ice as she started to understand what was happening. And why.
"Grams." she whispered hoarsely as it all fell into place. "Julian... He's looking for me."
Two weeks ago
Faro, Portugal
Damon Salvatore could count the number of times that he had truly worried for someone else's safety on one hand. And most of those times the person he was worried about had been someone from his family or more often than not, Elena Gilbert. But he was extremely unhappy to find himself adding a young Bennett witch to the list as well. Especially now that the first hour of the spell had passed and she was still unconscious and stuck somewhere on the Other Side.
"How long now?" he asked as he threw a nervous glance at Clara. She was standing in the same spot she had been since first casting the spell. Her eyes closed and her palms raised up towards the sky above her. Her lack of response informed him that the spell was still active, and as long as Clara managed to continue powering it up - Bonnie would be fine.
But the silent answer still didn't soothe his nerves as he sat by some rocks with his eyes glued to the lifeless body of his young friend. He flinched for the hundred time as another strange snap of twigs and rustling of leaves hit his ear. Sighing as he yet again concluded that there was no one out there, for at least several square miles, but the three of them. He was just far too on edge to calm down, and every passing minute was just another reminder of how Bonnie's life still continued to hang in the balance.
He fidgeted with the vials of adrenaline on the ground beside him, counting and recounting them in an attempt to pass time. Then he looked over at his phone, before remembering that he had turned it off when realizing that Enzo wouldn't stop calling or leaving loads of threatening messages...
"It can't be much time left, right?" he asked in a frustrated sigh, still not getting any verbal reply from the witch.
That's when he heard it again, that strange rustling in the distance. However, this time it seemed closer than before. Much closer. He stood up quickly and steeled himself for whatever threat might be out there, lurking around in the shadows. But when a familiar scent hit him, he felt both relief and guilt at once.
"What... did... you... do?"
The low voice was filled with the anger and despair that the man must have been feeling as his figure finally appeared from behind some trees. His eyes wide and glaring as they shifted between the witches and the vampire.
Damon raised his palm with a nervous grin. "Okay, don't be mad-"
His words were cut off as the other man lunged forward suddenly. He rushed to stop him from disrupting the spell, holding him back by his neck. "Enzo, listen to me-" he began in an attempt to calm the vampire, but Damon was interrupted again when he was swiftly thrown to the ground.
"Stop!" he called out and watched as realization slowly dawned on his old friend then.
"What is this?" Enzo gritted out between clenched teeth and crazy eyes, spinning around to stare at him with a dark scowl.
"A preservation spell." Damon sighed out, still studying him closely in case the man would try to cross the pentagram again. "She will be safe as long as Clara isn't interrupted."
"Safe, from what?"
The answer got stuck in his throat as he didn't quite know how to explain their last-minute plan. Finally deciding to just come clean, he took a slow breath and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "From dying." he told him, earning another ice-cold and rageful glare from Enzo again as he hurried to speak on. "She... Well, she's technically dead. But we're going to bring her back."
"What?" Enzo breathed out, his face white as a sheet as he looked like he was the one dying.
"Clara is kind of slowing it down... Stopping her from fully dying but keeping her within the veil. Just long enough until we get what we need." Damon added and scratched at the back of his neck as he tried to sense the man's mood. "As soon as Clara cuts the spell off, I'll pump her with enough adrenaline to wake a herd of elephants. She'll be fine."
"How long has she been like this?" Enzo hissed out, seemingly trying hard to control himself as he probably understood that it was too late for him to do anything.
"Just, like... Maybe... I mean not even an hour." the stammering answer was met with a dark set of eyes as Enzo walked over to him with slow steps.
"What happens if she doesn't wake up?"
"Well..."
Quick to grip his throat, Damon choked on his answer as he watched the vampiric features take over the man's face then. "You didn't." he gritted out as he stared at the Salvatore then.
"She made me promise not to." he coughed out as he fought against the Brit's hands.
"But you did. Didn't you?"
Damon grimaced as he tried to dodge the answer, but his throat was only gripped tighter when he did. "Yes! I did!" he hissed, gasping hard when Enzo dropped him abruptly.
"What gives you the right?" he asked him with a cold tone.
"I refuse to let her die." Damon responded, earning a harsh sneer in response. "You should be thanking me."
"Thank you!?"
"Yes! She would've never agreed to it on her own, you know that. I was giving her the possibility of a second chance!"
"You signed her death warrant, Damon!" he growled back, making the vampire flinch shortly. "She was always crystal clear on where she stood about taking our blood. This won't change anything! She will still die - just not as a witch."
"Wait..." the other vampire muttered out as he raised a palm in the air. "Did you hear that?"
They both froze up and turned to the side just in time to watch a hand rip through Clara Duarte's stomach. Her body dropped to the ground immediately, revealing her assailant as he stood covered in blood in her former spot.
"Hello, boys." he grinned towards them, springing Damon's body to action as he recognized the man's face.
He lunged forward and quickly reached for his throat, keeping him from stepping within the ritual's markings. "Don't tell me Julian's gone soft, Troy?" he scoffed as the vampire struggled in his grip. "Sending his lap-dogs like this instead of coming after us himself?"
"He was busy." Troy replied with a dark grin, seemingly unbothered by the turn of events. A sweeping wind passed Damon then, explaining the calm stature of the man. A dark-haired woman managed to snap Enzo's neck in a swoop before quickly heading towards the unconscious witch on the ground.
His hands twisted Troy's neck, dislodging his head from his body. Then turning to block the other vampire from reaching Bonnie. "Sorry, this is a private party." he snickered, earning a dark chuckle from the woman.
"I would say." she sneered back with a shrug. "And I think you've just been uninvited."
She barely finished her sentence before another pair of female vampires appeared from the woods then, slowly surrounding him as he struggled to keep them all in his sight. "Come one, three against one? That's never fair." he whined humorously before picking up a branch by his feet and quickly throwing it towards the woman who had arrived first and impaling her right away.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't done." he sneered towards the remaining vampires with a shrug. "What I meant to say is; It isn't fair - to you."
They were fast to snarl at him before sprinting forward. Luckily, they appeared far younger than the Salvatore and he managed to snap one's neck right before turning to the other and ripping out her heart. Swiftly, he ran to grab the syringes from his bag and kneeled by Bonnie's side in a second. Stabbing the needle into her chest and administering the adrenaline into her system.
He pulled the syringe back and held his breath as he tried to hear her heartbeat. "Come on, Bonnie." he whispered out in a plead as he waited. "Time to wake up, Bon. Come on. We don't have all day!"
She remained still despite his efforts, causing him to feel panic and dread creep into his veins. "Come on..." he murmured and moved to perform chest compressions then. "Don't do this, Bonnie Bennett." he hissed out as he continued giving her CPR. "Wake up, right now!"
A sharp pain suddenly struck his neck then as he felt a needle pierce his skin, the contents burning him from the inside. Vervain.
"We'll take it from here." a voice said as the world slowly turned into a blur and a pair of hands pushed him off. He didn't recognize the man who had attacked him, but he noticed two others stepping over Enzo's limp body and turning to lift Bonnie in their arms.
"Don't touch her." he gritted out as he tried to stand up and pull her back to him, but they kicked at his chest and forced him back to the ground then. "If you hurt her, I will tear you limb from limb and serve your bones to a pride of lions." he warned right, before his eyes lost total focus and everything darkened around him.
Present day
New Orleans, Louisiana
Caroline probably should have predicted the aftermath of her words, especially considering the way that Klaus usually reacted when being pushed into a corner. She should have known that he would be livid, that Enzo would agree with him, that even Elijah would try to change her mind...
Quickly voicing her thoughts just as they formed in her head, she hurried to speak before the reality kicked in and the others reacted. "Lucien has this artificial cure stashed away in a secret room. If he were to find me lying somewhere, dying from a werewolf bite…" she began as she ranted on, taking a deep breath and shrugging shortly.
"Well, there's a chance that he chooses to save me. Take me in. And by doing that, I can play the loyal and doting subject under his roof and find out more information about his relationship with Julian. I'll have access to his home, have lots of opportunities to get closer to him and maybe I could even convince him to help us. If not, we'll just get him to do so without him realizing it."
A short second of silence passed before both Klaus and Enzo stood up abruptly from their seats. "Absolutely not." they said in unison, nearly knocking chairs and plates over in their movements as they gaped at her in shock.
"You're fucking crazy, Caroline!" Enzo yelled at her pulling at her arm to make her meet his eyes. "You're going to put your life in his hands!?"
Klaus growled as he met the vampire's glare and pointed over at him in fury. "I have half a mind to compel you to go stand in the sun, lad. You'd do best not to tempt my restraint any further."
"Niklaus." Elijah warned but his voice failed to break through to the hybrid as he went on.
"Perhaps you should be the one to try a hand at this game, hm?" he threatened with a crazy grin and fiery eyes. "At least then I won't have to worry about this continuous migraine of mine which has been ever present from the moment you first opened your mouth!"
"If you think I'm going to let you use her like this then-"
"Enough! Both of you!" Caroline called out, standing to separate them with her hands as they had slowly gotten a little too close to each other by now. "First of all; you're not in charge of me, Enzo." she spat out, rage building in her as his possessiveness turned from friendly to controlling in a split second. "And second; this test-run of his cure is the only way to get back into Lucien's apartment so that we can finally figure out where he's hidden the candle."
"Bloody hell it is." Enzo sneered back and grabbed onto her shoulders with a hard grip as he spoke again. "Are you insane, Caroline!? He's not going to let you inside his home just because he stumbles upon you on the brink of death! You'll simply end up succumbing to the venom and fading into oblivion. How is that supposed to help Bonnie!?"
"Not to mention that I will not be biting anyone, much less you." Klaus laughed coldly. "If anything, I might give Lucien a visit and do a test-run of his little homemade cure myself."
"Don't try and convince me you're not worried about Lucien's plans, Klaus." Caroline pointed out. "I'm not oblivious to what's going on around here. It's obvious that you've been keeping track of him because you don't trust him. Which makes you, all of you, the last people to try and gain any information from him."
Freya winced visibly at her words, urging her to go on as she was clearly hitting the truth. "Unless of course, you could just compel him into telling you everything we need to know? But something tells me that if you could, you would've already done so by now. Which clearly means that you can't get to him. But I can."
"And what makes you so sure this would work? That he wouldn't choose to simply let you die on the street?" Klaus growled as he suddenly came to stand just an inch away, his intimidating eyes drilling into hers.
"I can't know that for sure. But even if there's just the tiniest chance of it working then I have to try!"
"And how would sacrificing yourself ever aid in saving your precious Bonnie? Would she want you to bet on your life this way? Dying in your pursuit of saving her and all over a chance!?" Klaus countered with a wicked grin as he pushed just the right buttons. Knowing her well enough to know which would get her to agree with him. Except she refused to cave.
"Bonnie can't want anything if she's dead." she protested.
"No." Freya gritted out then. "We will not risk the safety of our family based on a little girl's quest in killing herself, Niklaus." she said, making her guests silent for a moment. "Compel her if you have to, but this nonsense stops now."
Caroline raised her eyebrows at him then. "Sure. Go ahead. I dare you."
"He can't." Elijah said, having a creepy habit of always popping up from the shadows. "Isn't that right, brother?"
"Can't or won't?" Freya asked then. Klaus glanced between his siblings without answering. She stared back at the blonde in question then as she stood with a shrug. "Very well, then I will help you meet your end myself." she muttered out before raising a fist in the air. But before she could even open her mouth to start whatever chanting that waited on the tip of her tongue; Klaus had flashed over to his sister and held her throat in a tight grip.
"Don't!" he roared at her, causing the woman to freeze up and gape at him in shock.
Suddenly Elijah had rushed over and twisted Enzo's spine in one swift move. The younger vampire cried out in pain while he fell to the floor, his body bent in all the wrong angles. Before neither he or Caroline could protest, Elijah had moved over and grabbed her arm, forcing her to meet his intimidating eyes.
"Freya is right, Niklaus." he crooned calmly. "I may not need to kill you in order to stop you, Caroline, but I am not above using compulsion to assure your allegiance." he warned her, eliciting a dreadful coldness through her body as she found him even more scary while using her first name.
"Elijah." Klaus gritted out in warning.
"I assume you have been using vervain to shield yourself from us, correct?" he asked, completely ignoring the hybrid's voice. His cold eyes making her gulp harshly as he put a hand to circle her throat.
"Brother." Klaus hissed then, sounding dangerous and menacing as he dropped Freya to the ground. He walked slowly to them as the witch sat up and coughed in pain.
"Don't worry, Niklaus. I won't kill her. I will simply lock her up, drain her body of the vervain in her system and then I shall compel her into leaving Louisiana behind. Perhaps a little time apart will help clear both your minds." Elijah suggested with a dark smirk.
"Elijah, don't." Caroline stuttered out, hearing the cracks in her neck as his grip tightened. "Bonnie-"
"The Bennett-witch is of no concern to me." he announced then, such nonchalance in his voice that she started to shake a little against his hold. "I take no joy in this, Caroline. Believe me when I say that this is merely a necessary evil to keep my family safe. Surely you can understand that?"
"No!" Enzo grunted out, still fighting to place his skeleton back in place as he writhed on the floor. "Don't hurt her!"
Caroline's thoughts ran through her head as she tried to figure out what to say or do in case Klaus couldn't get his brother to back down, but the air was quickly getting thinner and the bones in her throat were breaking one by one.
Suddenly, Elijah's hand dropped her abruptly as he fell to the floor. His face slack and his own neck having been snapped instead. Caroline stared at the hybrid as her neck slowly began to heal itself. But before she had a chance to speak, Klaus had rushed over to Enzo and grabbed onto his arm in rage. "Now, what about you mate? Can you still be compelled?" he asked.
Caroline tried to croak out a protest, but her voice hadn't quite returned yet and only a raspy cough left her.
"No." Enzo managed to get out, making Klaus chuckle.
"Then we'll just have to try Caroline's plan on you instead." His eyes turned, dark veins covered his skin and for a second, Caroline's instincts took control.
She managed to surprise Klaus by swiftly pushing Enzo out of the way just in time. Klaus backed away immediately, dodging her shoulder before he bit her instead. Shortly, she remembered her training with Marcel and lunged towards him. Pushing him to the floor and straddling his stomach in a second. But it didn't last long, in a flash he had taken back the advantage. Taking her by the waist and carrying her away in a wind of movement until they were standing in his bedroom.
Klaus closed the door behind them and turned to her bewildered face quickly. "Do you have a death wish!?" he yelled out as his eyes flickered with darkness.
She flinched at the sight and took a step away from him. "What? No! I wasn't trying to-"
"Oh, I believe you do, love." he snarled back, his voice calmer now but his eyes just as wild. He walked towards her, causing her to continue backing away. "You don't feed. You attack other vampires. You socialize with psychopathic ones who hold centuries over you. You get yourself into constant danger… And you are deliberately trying to get me or my family to kill you."
"That's not–" she began to protest but froze up as she hit the wall behind her. Suddenly having no escape and surprising herself as she quickly turned afraid of him. Her heart was trying to escape out of her chest, her breath got caught in her throat and her eyes closed shut in an attempt to will him away.
"Klaus." she pleaded quietly. "I already wasted so much time… I-I can't give up until I've tried everything. I owe Bonnie that much."
"I can't decide whether that makes you utterly mad or just reckless." he muttered hoarsely before stepping back and turning away from her.
She opened her eyes carefully and watched as his shoulders moved up and down in the slow rhythm of his breath. Clearly trying to calm down despite the insane fury overwhelming him. "Tell me again why you think this plan of yours will work." his voice was so quiet that she wondered if she may have accidentally read his thoughts instead.
But he turned around and looked at her with something different in his eyes that confirmed that he had spoken. Caroline recognized it all too well from her reflection in the mirror: pain. "I still have your blood in my system, I can feel it. I honestly don't think a bite would kill me now." she stammered out and shrugged.
"That isn't a chance I feel obliged to take." he shot back.
She let out a long breath and nodded, understanding his fear. Hell, she shared it herself. But she was actually optimistic of this idea, and she realized she needed to convince him that everything would be alright. Thinking quickly, she looked down at her hand where she wore her daylight ring. The golden band next to it was one she had kept close every day for several years. And as she shortly remembered the strange spell Klaus and Freya had used to see and hear what Lucien was doing, she realized that it could be used to find her as well.
Deciding then to take a chance, she took the ring off and held it up for him to see. "It was my mom's." she explained as she walked towards him, taking his hand and placing the ring inside his palm. "If anything goes wrong, you can find me and give me your blood." she told him, closing his hand over the band and holding onto it with both of hers softly.
He watched her with conflicting eyes, making her sigh shortly as she tried to find the right words to soothe him. To get him to believe in her. "Klaus…" she murmured with the shake of her head. "I can't think of anything else to do at this point, and our time is running out."
His eyes were slightly glossy as he looked down at their hands, making her gulp slightly before speaking again. "Try to understand… I-I am actually admitting to you that I need your help here. Finally. So, help me." she said softly as she took in his pained face. "I am counting on you. I need you to help me get to Lucien. I am asking you to help us find the candle. To save Bonnie… And this is how."
"By hurting you?" he scoffed then, shaking his head slowly as he continued to struggle with himself.
"By trusting me." she insisted, staring up into his eyes with a tiny smile. Trying to figure out what else she could possibly say to explain why she needed to do this. But she came up short and shook her head instead. "I'm asking you, please." she whispered just above her breath, hoping her sincere voice would be enough to prove him how serious she was.
He closed his eyes for a moment before looking at her again. "Where?" he muttered shortly, making her blink a few times in surprise before she understood that he was actually going to do it.
"Wh-where would you usually do it?" she stammered out nervously, starting to feel afraid again as she knew what was coming. "It should look like an attack. More realistic, you know."
His hand stroked her cheek before he brushed the hair back from her shoulder and exposing her neck. "I'm not sure if it'll be enough with just one..." he breathed out with sad eyes.
"Good." she murmured, mostly to convince herself than anything else. "It'll be easier to sell. Wolves travel in packs after all." she chuckled nervously. He didn't smile at her words, instead he looked her over as if both determining where to bite her and checking if he could possibly change her mind about this.
Finally, he took a deep breath and tucked her mother's ring into his pocket. His hands traveling up her arms and holding onto her face. "Are you sure?" he asked her, challenging her resolve yet again. She only nodded in response and urged him silently to continue. Holding her breath as he held her chin and tilted her head to the side slightly. Stretching her neck out and exposing it further as he leaned closer. His lips hovering over her skin and left traces of fire behind.
She waited anxiously for the hurtful bite and stinging venom, but instead received a soft kiss against her jawline. It made her confused, not to mention flustered, as a blush crept over her at the sudden intimacy. He moved a hand to travel across her spine and brushed over one vertebra at the time, slowly pressing upwards her body. And then he bit her shoulder, the distractions clearly having worked since the silent gasp that escaped her was accompanied by a tiny smile. It wasn't as painful as she remembered from those other times. It was actually… pleasant.
The feel of his lips on her skin made her shiver slightly, his scent enveloping her and turning their proximity more intense by the second. Feeding only shortly, he soon let go of her neck and looked up at her with slightly parted lips. Blood tinting his mouth and a wild glow of amber filling his eyes.
He looked marvelous, and it took her breath away. The memory of how she had felt when feeding on his blood the other night popped into her head momentarily. She realized that he must be sensing the effect he had on her, the shift in the air or the intense pull between them. Because she certainly had. She'd tasted it in his blood and felt it against his body. It had coursed through her, creeping into her veins and filling her with desire. And in that moment, she hadn't quite known whether that feeling came from him solely or her as well. She felt a gasp deep in her throat as his hand moved to the back of her neck and grabbed onto her hair with a tug. Forcing her face to tilt up and meet his eyes as they burned through hers. The confirmation was evident then; she had been right. He was feeling it, whatever it was. And that realization only made her want to lean into it more.
Her eyes fluttered closed as his free hand drew lines across her shoulder, near the bite mark and further down her arm. Raising her wrist and lifting it to his lips as he pierced her skin again. Suddenly aching to see him, she looked over and was met with the dark look on his face magnifying before her. She gritted her teeth, balancing between pleasure and pain as he leaned in and slowly kissed her arm and up towards her shoulder. He reached her neck then, scraping his teeth lightly against her sensitive veins. His hot breath hitting her skin and causing hers to get stuck somewhere low in her chest.
He finally bit her again, making her inhale sharply through her teeth and grabbing onto his arms. Digging her fingers into his muscles, she arched her back and pressed against his body. Feeling a strong pull to him suddenly and her mind nearly screaming for them to be closer. He spun her in one swift move, quickly biting into her shoulder-blade and leaving another swift nip to her side. Spreading the venom through her ribs and causing her chest to feel heavier with every breath.
Then he turned her shortly and kneeled by her feet. Her hazy mind had trouble focusing on anything other than the feeling of his hands slowly moving her long skirt higher up her legs. Exposing more of her body as his calloused fingers traced the sides of her calf and brushed past her knee. Sending further shivers through her body as she felt completely captured by his intense eyes. His hand pressed against the back of her thigh, he leaned in and dug into her skin again. This time it felt like lightning coursing through her, and she had to grab onto his shoulders to keep steady. A soft sound from the man filled her with sudden confidence, her hands coming to braid into his hair and fist his shirt tightly against his bicep.
Her head was hazy, and her body felt numb and broken down when his mouth left her skin. She met his eyes for a breathless moment, causing her to nearly lose control of her legs as she studied his ruffled hair and golden gaze. Seeing something on his face that looked like a question and frustrating her to death as she had no idea what the answer was.
"Klaus." she barely breathed out the full name before he stood up and pressed his body against hers. Her back hitting the wall behind her and her leg hooked around his waist, held up by his hand as it gripped her firmly. They shared a sultry glance for a short second before their lips met in a fiery kiss. She had no idea who had leaned in first or how it had been initiated, all she knew was the insane longing that rushed through her entire being then.
Her hands roamed over his back and scratched at his shoulder blades. Suddenly condemning the excess of clothes keeping their bodies apart. He held her tightly to him as she slowly began feeling more and more dizzy, and not necessarily because of the venom circling through her system. She clung to him like a life raft in the ocean, their tongues battling for dominance and making her moan against his mouth. His hips pressed to hers and his hands running over her legs and core. A growl escaping him as she rubbed closer and against the enticing hardness in his pants, making her grin into the kiss with a content sigh. She wanted more and it was driving her insane, making her lose control over her body as it seemed to act fully on its own.
The heat only grew between them and she quickly felt furious with herself for not having given into him sooner. As if having been denied water for ages and finally taking her first sip of it again, having forgotten just how good it was until now. It built a dark and heavy feeling in her chest, blurring her sight. Somewhere along the way, the haze transcended from the lust to the effects of his venom.
She started to feel a numbness spreading over her limbs and turning her body stiff and weak. Her lips were abruptly separated from his as she lost the ground beneath her and sunk into his embrace. She could sense that he moved her as her body turned heavy and detached from her thoughts. The world seemingly blurring away and disappearing altogether. Her limbs shaking and clenching as her mind slowly fell into a deep and dark abyss.
