Hey guys! So sorry this took so long, have been busy with life and my Pop passed away. Was a big sad in the fam. I can't guarantee a regular update, my attention is hard pressed with staying focussed on anything Vampire Diaries at the moment. I'm being sucked in by GoT and HP again, which sucks, but HP especially is a comforting blanket, you know? Everyone has that one fandom that just wraps you up like a hug and its been my go to for escaping reality currently, which is totally unhealthy, I know lol.
Also! One of you reviewers (totally not saying who) guessed where I was going with some of this story, which, Kudos my guy! I hope I write it well. I will also never say no to a Beta reader lol. I'm getting soooooooo slack with editing ( AKA I don't) and so I'm sorry if this reads like trash, but it took me waay too long to actually write. Not too sure if I'm happy with it but Lia and Klaus just refused to mesh. Like, REFUSED.
And as you know, I totally haven't watched all of the series, thus my last bit will probably seem totally OOC. I don't know the deets, all I know is that she has the thing according to wiki lol.
Anyway!
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 25"Who is this guy, Safari Sam?"
"Alaric Saltzman," Maddox intoned as watched Klaus dress his temporary body in – ugh – flannel. His face, as always, was void of any expression. "He has no connections in town. This was his first week of teaching; I found his class notes for you to look over. I believed him the perfect host as your lack of knowledge will be excusable, all the while, being in a prime position to keep an eye on your chosen targets as they all attend high school."
Klaus blinked before turning toward his warlock. "You know, I think that's the most I've heard you say this month."
He received a dead-eyed look in return.
Klaus smirked, buttoning his cuffs and raising an eyebrow at his reflection.
"Time to go meet the doppelganger and the lovely Lia, hm?"
Maddox seemed to be done talking, as all he did was offer the Original-cum-history teacher the teardrop necklace that he quickly threw around his neck and tucked under his shirt.
*TVDM*
John Gilbert glared at the coffee pot, watching as the coffee dripped at an excruciatingly slow pace. His phone was pressed to his ear firmly as the call, not for the first time, rang out and sent him to voicemail. He growled, violently bringing the device down so he could find the other female vampire's number he was working with.
She answered after the second ring.
"Have you heard from Katherine?"
John ripped the coffee jug out of its place, aggravated that Isobel was as in the dark as he was.
"No, that's why I was calling. Last I heard, she was in town with Mason Lockwood. If you haven't heard anything, I'm going to have to talk to the Salvatore's."
"Why are you wasting time, John? You should have already dealt with the pests."
John spoke through his clenched teeth. "I've been a little preoccupied, what, with a powerful supernatural creature literally melting the Gilbert device in my hand."
"Yes, and what have you done about that?"
"Wha-?" John huffed angrily, his face flushing red. "I haven't done anything about it! What could I possibly do about a creature I don't know how to deal with? I'd say she was a witch but it's impossible. She's something else entirely! Besides, she's not the only issue! Jeremy, Elena and Jenna know about the supernatural; Jenna and Jeremy in particular are being looked after by Kaliope and her lot. And, need I remind you that Elena is dating a vampire!?"
"You think your plate is too full? You always were such a disappointment, John. Honestly; who cared who Elena is dating? What's important right now is keeping her alive, and to do that, we need Katherine."
"Don't you think I know that?!" John snapped, tempted to throw his coffee mug against the wall of the kitchen he still paced in. "I hate that you're so callous about this! She's our daughter!" The Gilbert man huffed, letting go of his cup and scrubbing a hand through his hair before his shoulders drooped in defeat. "I'll deal with it, Isobel. I'll call you when I find out what happened to Katherine."
"You've proven to be unreliable, John."
John scoffed even as dread filled his gut. "Isobel-"
"I'll see you soon."
A dial tone was all that was left in the wake of the vampire's proclamation.
John's eyes pinched before closing, a slow breath leaving him as he dropped the phone from his ear and onto the bench before bracing himself against it.
Jeremy used that opportunity to slip silently toward the front door, reeling at what he'd just overheard. He quietly closed the front door behind him before sprinting over to Lia's, having organised with her and Enzo to hitch a ride from them today as Caroline was at school early thanks to the Halloween party being tomorrow.
He was barely out of breath as he swung the door open, immediately tackled with an armful of mermaid.
"Mimi! Naw, did you miss me so much you had to run to me?! Oof, so many feels! I missed you too!" the raven-haired woman squealed, squeezing a little too tightly if Jeremy's wheezing was anything to go by.
"Lia, down girl," the boy gasped as she finally relinquished her hold. "And, yes, I missed you, sure, but you'll never guess what I just heard!"
"Oooh!" Lia leaned back in, eyes gleaming with curiosity before she gasped, hands slapping over Jeremy's opening mouth. "Wait! Care will never forgive us if we're gossiping and plotting without her! Hold your tongue, sir!"
"But-!"
"No buts!" Lia shouted, eyes wide and staring the taller teen down. "Besides," she huffed and rolled her eyes as she looked over her shoulder, watching Enzo strut down the stairs. "If it has anything to do with Elena, Loren will be the opposite of interested."
The vampire shrugged unapologetically. "What can I say? The girl's got a Captain-America-shaped stick up her ass."
Jeremy blinked. "Captain-?"
"Self-righteous and borderline narcissistic in a 'my opinion is totally right because I fight on the side of right!' kind of way," Lia nodded grimly at the human before turning to her brother with a grin. "I didn't know you were reading comics now!"
Enzo sighed, hand over his chest as he gazed at the ceiling above. "What can I say? I saw Iron Man and I fell in love. I had to get in on the Marvel universe."
Lia nodded, lifting her gaze in solidarity. "I don't think I will ever love a man the way I love Tony Stark."
"I should hope not," Enzo frowned, looking down at his sister with a raised eyebrow. "Love as many fictional characters as you want, angel. As soon as you find a real one, he and I shall be having words."
Lia matched his frown with one of her own. "But he'd never survive a shovel talk from you."
Enzo grinned proudly down at her, patting her head before grabbing his keys. "Let's go, children! School waits for no teen!"
*TVDM*
"Care!" Lia sung as she skipped over to the raging Queen that was Caroline Forbes. The sophomores looked close to tears as the blonde tore into them about the Halloween decorations. Lia looped her arm through her friends, unafraid of the fire burning in those bright eyes. "Cut the children some slack, yes? Not everyone is as perfect as you."
Caroline scoffed, rolling her eyes with an aggravated huff. "I know, and that makes it all so much worse! Why can't cloning be a thing, yet?!"
"Because there can never be more than one Caroline Forbes at a time," Lia raised a brow, the 'duh' heavily implied. "Besides, don't you have tomorrow to finish everything?"
Caroline looked mildly horrified. "While touch-ups will be necessary, there is no way I'm sacrificing my dressing time to dress the school. We have time now, at lunch, and this afternoon; plenty, if these minions of mine picked up thePACE!"
Lia cackled while Jeremy sighed as the trio of friends watched the frantically scrambling members of the school committee move at speeds they probably weren't even aware they could move at.
"You will rule kingdoms one day, Miss Forbes," Lia grinned gleefully.
Caroline rolled her eyes with a poorly hidden smirk. "More than kingdoms, dear. I will rule the world."
Jeremy could only sigh once more as he watched the crazy women laugh while linking arms. Before they got too far away, Lia pulled the blonde back to face him.
"Sorry, Mimi! Almost got swept up in the plots for world domination; you know how it is," she offered a 'what can you do?' shrug. "What did you want to tell me about this morning?"
Jeremy was pulled between the girls as he began his explanation on what he'd overheard.
Lia clucked her tongue and wrinkled her nose. "Damn it, John."
Caroline scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I can't believe we didn't see it coming, really. I mean, of course he's up to his neck in all this. We should have predicted just how many pies his sticky little fingers had found their way into, you know? I wonder how Elena will take it."
"I can't believe my uncle is her dad," Jeremy was still reeling from that revelation, though he wasn't so lost in the thought that he missed the slight cringe of the mermaid he was arm-locked with. He frowned before sighing. "And how long have you known?"
Lia pouted but quickly her good humour left as she thought about how best to explain how she knew. She swallowed heavily at the thought of Jeremy hating her.
"Lia?" Caroline frowned, her unimpressed eyebrow falling to join the other in a worried frown as the trio came to a stop in the middle of the school hall. "You're becoming serious. You're never serious. What is it?"
Lia paid Caroline no mind as she held Jeremy's gaze, a solemn determination increasing the weight of her emerald eyes that had Jeremy letting the busy hall around him fade into the background. His fists clenched subconsciously as he braced himself for what was no doubt going to be awful news.
He just didn't understand how his morning find had turned into something so grave.
"I had contact with your father, before he died."
Jeremy blinked, surprised but not seeing a connection. Seeing his confusion, Lia took a steadying breath and elaborated.
"The day I arrived was the same day your parents went off the bridge. Your mother had already passed, Stefan had already saved Elena and your father was seconds from perishing. He was my first soul in this world; he's how I knew about vampires and how I was able to create the scenario I did to convince Sheriff Forbes to see me as a vampire's victim. Though his soul memories didn't show me how deep Jon was in the supernatural world, they did show me that he is Elena's father and a young girl named Isobel was her mother."
Jeremy was stunned, though his shock was quickly being pummelled by a warring combination of sorrow and anger.
Jaw clenched, fists tight, eyes narrowed and throat thick, Jeremy looked into the unwavering gaze of his first true friend and asked what he wasn't even sure he wanted to ask.
"Why didn't you save him?"
"Because I didn't want to," Lia stated, as factually as an answer to a math question and as suffocating as a punch to the chest. "While I may have respected the family man he was from his memories, I in no way wanted to keep the man that was responsible for Loren's continued torture alive."
Jeremy's world cracked.
His anger bled from his veins, his sorrow released its hold on his bones as the shock of Lia's words swept through his entire being, cementing his feet to the floor.
"What?" his voice was no more than a whisper.
"Your father was a researcher for Augustine, looking into how to replicate a vampire's healing abilities scientifically. He was responsible for cutting out pieces of Lorenzo St. John and observing their regrowth."
Jeremy felt sick.
Eyes unwavering, Lia watched as Jeremy's world view tilted, wanting to comfort her friend but unsure as to whether her advances would be welcome.
Caroline's eyes were pinched as they jumped between her two friends. She felt bad for Jeremy, but she knew she'd stand by Lia's side until the bitter end. Lia was a supernatural creature, a creature that did not adhere to humanity and morality like she and Jeremy did. Objectively speaking, they were lucky to be under the protective wing of such a strong being, and personally, Caroline wouldn't let anything come between the two of them again. She also knew that Jeremy was very close to saying something that he would later regret if she didn't step in.
"Jeremy," Caroline cautioned, drawing his gaze. She grimaced sympathetically at the emotions that were jumping across his features. "You don't have to say anything now. No one is expecting you to process that kind of info dump in the seconds before the bell rings. Take the day, OK? We'll be here when you're ready to talk."
Jeremy's eyes quickly jumped to Lia before closing. He took a steadying breath, his shoulders drooping, before focussing his brown gaze on Caroline again. Understanding shone in those orbs as he offered a weak, barely-there smile before nodding. Without a backward glance, Jeremy left the two girls standing in the middle of the hall, hitching his bag higher on his shoulder as he marched away.
It wasn't until he was out of sight that Lia finally let her near-blank mask fall.
The insecure heartbreak that painted those pretty, pretty features was damn-near enough to break Caroline's heart.
Without a word, the blonde pulled her tiny friend into a crushing hug, not paying any mind to the slowly growing damp spot on her shoulder.
"He just needs time," Caroline soothed, her hand rubbing slow circles on the shaking girl's back. "He doesn't hate you; he just needs to process. You're not to blame for their deaths; he knows that."
Lia nodded, struggling but succeeding in calming her breathing. Her tears slowed and her body gradually relaxed. One last deep breath and a wave of her hand had both the tears on her face and the wet patch on Caroline's clothes dry. Caroline set her hands on the mermaid's shoulders, looking into her eyes for a long moment before offering a gentle smile.
"History?"
Lia rolled her eyes with a humorously petulant huff, but nodded anyway. Caroline walked her friend to the door, kissing her cheek and giving her one last side hug before strutting off to her own class. Lia smiled after the blonde before spinning on her toes and walking through the classroom door.
She locked eyes with Alaric and froze.
Alaric was sleeping in his Alaric suit.
She blinked, offering a smile to the man before walking casually to take her seat.
Niklaus had come to play.
What a day this was turning out to be.
Lia cocked her head as she felt the magic around the history teacher's body. She'd never had any experience with possession before, but it looked rough; like looking at a 30-year-old man wearing a 9-year-old girl's clothing. It looked uncomfortable and all-around awkward.
The class started without hassle; Nik-Aric's teaching was more lax than the true owner of the body, but, as the man hadn't been in town long, everyone just put it down to it being the end of the week.
Lia attentively listened to the human-suit-wearing Original, eager to confront him as soon as the bell rang, even if just to use the opportunity to put her earlier conversation with Jeremy in the back of her mind.
*TVDM*
Enzo pulled the key out of his truck just as his phone started ringing. He smiled, seeing his girlfriend's name displayed across the screen and answered without a second thought, staring through the windscreen at the Salvatore boarding house as a small, genuine smile graced his features.
"Morning, gorgeous."
"Good morning to you, too. One of my lectures was cancelled so I'm bored, knowing that I should use the time to work on one of my assignments but more than happy to procrastinate. What are you up to?"
"I'm just about to say hello to the newest doppel-pire in town before Damon drops her off in her new home."
"Oooh, exciting. You'll have to tell me all about it."
Enzo grinned. "Are you sure you want all the gory details? While the woman is a piece of work, she also happens to be the piece of work who is the spitting image of your niece."
"Hey, I'm open-minded enough to be able to separate a family member from a 500-year-old vampire that's had centuries to cultivate herself into a raging bitch."
Enzo barked a laugh. "I should never have doubted you."
"Of course, not!" Jenna huffed humorously before sighing. "I suppose I should take this as my sign to stop putting off my work. I'll see you tonight, though?"
"Of course, you will, even if I have to steal you from your bed."
Enzo smiled at the laughter he was gifted with before the call ended. He sighed before climbing out of the truck and strutting inside, only to come face-to-face with a half-dressed Qetsiyah. He blinked as he waited for the shock to flood his system, and huffed half a laugh when it never came.
"I would say I'm shocked, but I'm somehow really not surprised," he grinned sardonically at the blue-eyed, shirtless vampire as he came bounding down the stairs. "Should I offer a congratulations?"
"We'll see," Tessa smirked as she slipped a shirt over her head, crossed her arms and cocked her hip. She lazily looked Damon up and down before turning her attention back to the newest addition of the boarding house. "You here to see our houseguest?"
"Indeed," Enzo smiled charmingly at the witch. "After all, I couldn't let you both have all the fun. I had to see for myself the woman that was the love of Damon's life for so long."
Damon snorted and threw a withering look at the British vampire. "Well, look to your heart's content. We're moving her to the tomb today when Lia gets here so she can respell it. We haven't restarted her nifty Jedi mind trick yet. Just in case we think of something creative, you understand," the blue-eyed vampire grinned devilishly as he casually threw an arm around Tessa.
A buzzing sounded through the room before Enzo could reply. Damon clicked his tongue in annoyance as he reached for the phone on the side table in the hall. He silenced it with a barely-lingering glance at the screen.
"Katherine's," he said in way of explaining. "We have messages from Jon, Isobel and Mason as well as plenty of missed calls from them and a Lucy Bennett. Might have to have a chat to the town witch to see if there's a close relation there," Damon smiled at the two others in the room sardonically. "Would hate to be crossed off the Christmas card list for killing the family favourite."
"And you've had the self-restraint to not answer any of them?" Enzo was undeniably impressed, earning himself an amused quirk of the mouth from Tessa and a deadpanned expression from Damon. "Are you feeling OK, Damon?"
"You're hilarious, truly," Damon sassed before rolling his eyes at the second call. "I would have loved to rub it in all their faces but as Lia said, if Mason Lockwood is a werewolf, his time of the month is deadly to us blood suckers. She doesn't want us risking it and I don't know if they're all in cahoots so I figured I'd just let the phone die," Damon looked up from the phone to give Enzo a cheeky smirk. "Doesn't stop me from reading the messages, though."
Enzo matched the smirk with his own as he joined the vampire in looking at the texts.
"Kathy, I'm starting to worry. Where are you?" Enzo rolled his eyes. "He's wrapped around her finger and doesn't even know it."
"Kathy, I'm sorry, OK? Rich refuses to trust me but I'll find it. Think that's the moonstone?" Damon asked nobody in particular, but received nods all the same. "Well, sucks for him, doesn't it?"
"Good for us, though," Enzo mused as his eyes flickered down the rest of the texts, all reading along the same lines as each other. "With him making his want for the stone so obvious, when the mayor does eventually check his hidey hole, he won't immediately think of the tea party."
Damon's brows rose slightly at the point, a satisfied smile creeping its way onto his face.
"God, you know, I love being on the winning side," he sighed happily. "It gets all the luck."
Enzo huffed a chuckle, rolling his eyes as he finally turned his attention to the stairs that led to Katherine. He clapped his hands and rubbed them together like a melodramatic villain. "Time to take a gander, hm?"
*TVDM*
The bell rang, signalling the end of class. All the students in front of him seemed eager to leave except one.
Kaliope didn't take her sparkling gaze off him as she remained seated.
It had been near torture not to grab the closest paper and pencil and start drawing her when he'd first laid eyes on that face. She was a sculpted masterpiece if ever he saw one; truly Aphrodite reborn. The way she looked at him, though, had him battling the urges to smirk or frown. She obviously wasn't unaware of the supernatural world; incredibly in-tune with it, apparently, as she'd been examining him nearly all lesson.
The door closed behind the last student to exit and then she was in front of him, too fast for even his eyes.
"Hello, stranger," the green-eyed minx grinned in a very cat-like fashion. "Would you prefer Alaric? Alar-Nik, even? Riklaus? Tell me when one feels comfortable."
He had her neck in his hand and her body pressed against the wall in moments, garnering an upset frown from the little woman he was threatening.
"Careful, love," he purred, his accent sounding awkward through his host. "You don't want to get on my bad side already."
Lia scowled and rolled her eyes, easily prying the hand away from her neck and pushing the man away a few feet almost casually. "I don't think you want to underestimate me, Dear. I'm sympathetic to your plight, truly, but if you're naughty you will sit in the time out corner until I allow you your freedom once more."
Niklaus stared at her for a brief moment, weighing her words against what he perceived from her before laughing, half amused and half incredulous. "You amuse me, love. You think you know anything about me? You believe you have power over me?"
Lia couldn't stop the unimpressed eyebrow raising even if she wanted to. "Of course, I do. I know a lot about you, Niklaus, son of Ansel. I know that your mother screwed you over something fierce when it came to cursing your werewolf side. I know that Mikael is an abusive father that should never have been allowed near you. I know that he always gave you grief for being weaker than your siblings, even though it was your mother who suppressed your natural strength because she knew as soon as you were born that you were not of Mikael's seed. I know that, should you break the curse as it is, you will condemn yourself to being the only hybrid to walk the earth until the next doppelganger decides to grace the planet with her presence. I know that you cling so tightly to your siblings because you believe, if they leave you, they will not come back. I also know that you did not throw your siblings to sea."
Niklaus's jaw was clenched as tightly as his fists were. He was reeling at the mention of his true father's name, at the information this girl seemed to have, but it was the last point that had all of his shock forgotten and his rage boiling the blood of his human suit. "Elijah's found a confidant in you, I take it?"
Lia scoffed, rolling her eyes and curling her lip at the name of his half-brother. "Oh, please, as if Elijah would. He's an arrogant prick that believes himself to be above every being on this planet and yet still believes himself a monster in the same breath. Do not fear, Dear, he has not told me anything I did not already know. I am more than you could possibly imagine."
"It was foolish of you, coming to me without any backup or thought of what I would do to you once you exposed your knowledge," Nik smiled in his falsely charming way before his face dropped all hints of welcome. "You will die here, you know that, yes?"
Lia laughed. She couldn't help it. She laughed deeply, her eyes closed and her body hunched as she clutched her sides in mirth. Tears sprung to her eyes as she struggled for breath.
"You truly think that, don't you?" she chuckled, dabbing her eyes with her fingertip. "I hate to break it to you, Fido, but there is absolutely no way you can kill me. You don't have the ability, nor the manpower, nor would you want to when you realise how vital I am to the survival of the vampiric race."
Klaus, done with this conversation and the fact that he obviously was missing a lot of information, smiled sardonically just as the next bell rang. "Well, I suppose I will just have to kill all your loved ones instead, hm?"
He would never admit it, but the instant change in her demeanour; the loss of all humour from her face as it tilted to the side to study him with a predator's focus, the inhuman glow of green, green, green that was being surrounded by now-black sclera. Her fangs growing passed any length he'd ever seen, black nails turning into sharp talons ready to strip him to ribbons. He'd never seen a sight so utterly captivating. He burned the image in his mind, fully intending to paint it once he returned to his own body.
Not for a second did he forget, however, that she was threatening him.
"If you even tried," her voice was light and airy. "I would have your heart removed from your body and piked on a white oak spear faster than you could say doppelganger. You do not want to test me, Niklaus."
He watched her silently as her features shifted back to as close to human as she could look in all her inhuman beauty before she turned and made her way to the door. She grasped the handle and turned to face him once more.
"I will have the doppelganger unbound from the second half of the curse by the end of the weekend. I will also be bringing her back to life once your ritual is complete. You will have no issues with becoming a hybrid or making more. You will also tell your brother where to find his siblings so they can finally live their lives. I can't say meeting you was a pleasure, but I can say that I hope we don't have to meet again. Goodbye, Niklaus Mikaelson."
He did not stop her as she left, unable to move as the door slid closed behind her.
He truly does not know what to make of the woman he'd just met. At this point, he's just glad that she's not trying to stop him from finally becoming whole. She did raise some troubling points though, all caused by the same problem.
Niklaus's information was exceedingly lacking and outdated.
He grabbed his phone, fully intent on calling his favourite warlock to start investigating the curse that had plagued him for the last 1,000 years.
*TVDM*
Josette Laughlin's lungs seemed to freeze in her chest at the sight of her solemn father standing at the front door. She hadn't seen him in years. She hadn't even known that he knew how to find her.
"Jo," his low voice grave as his eyes bored into her. She subtly wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans as she swallowed heavily but refused to break eye contact. "I need it back."
She refused to bow, but that didn't stop her insides from coming to a screeching halt while her mind spun.
Her throat dry, she managed to ask, "how long have you known?"
He heaved a heavy sigh. "I've always known. I also know why you took it, and that's why I never demanded it back."
Her spine stiffened. "Are you releasing him?"
"No," her father denied immediately. "Sheila wants to add to it."
"Why not create another?" Josette tried not to let the naked fear into her voice, but by the softening of her father's eyes, she didn't believe she was successful.
"Because none are as secure as the one in your possession."
"Then make another," she all but demanded.
"We don't have the numbers anymore," her father's eyes pinched in pain at the reminder of the loss they'd suffered. "We don't have the strength to make something that strong again."
Josette closed her eyes but nodded her consent, pulling the door open further to allow her father entrance into her home. He looked around while she went to retrieve his reason for being here, trying to remain steady on her legs that felt more like jelly with every step.
Joshua closed his eyes and sighed once more, his heart heavy with trepidation and determination. If this creature, for that's what Sheila called the being, was as dangerous as she made it seem, then he was nervous about uniting it with his abomination of a son. Together, they could wreck havoc on anyone and anything in their path if they sought vengeance, but, as he said to Josette, the prison world they'd constructed for Kai was the strongest they had been able to create. If they were going to be safe from such a creature, this was the surest way he knew how.
After receiving the call from the elderly Bennett witch, Joshua had done some investigating of his own. Delving into a magic that he'd not had much practice with, even he could not deny the uneasy murmurs of the spirits. He feared then, if the creature that many referred to as a new God could affect ancestral magic so, what's to stop it from interfering with the Gemini's way of life next?
He opened his eyes at the sound of the soft footfalls of his daughter, seeing the device in her trembling hands. She refused to look away from it as she handed it over. He gently pried it from her hand with one of his own, using his other to grasp hers with a reassuring squeeze once they were relieved of their burden.
"I will not put you in danger," he promised lowly, meeting her scared gaze with a steady one of his own. "I will not let you regret your decision."
Shakily, she nodded her head, following him to the door once more and immediately locking it once he stepped through. For what was sure to not be the last time, Joshua sighed heavily as he looked back at the wooden barricade sadly before marching on with his determination renewed. He would trap this being with his monster son.
Hopefully, as dangerous as they were, they would do the world a favour and find a way to kill each other.