A/N: Hello everyone! Exactly on time for once^.^
I will keep it short today, but I wanted to thank you all for your many comments and favorites. I genuinely cannot believe how well this story is received. Honestly, again, thank you each and every one of you. Truly.
Enjoy the newest chapter,
Lots of love,
Anna
o.O.o
Chapter Forty-Five, Where the Wild Things are
A sickle moon was rising, and the pines above us roared softly. Millions of needles scoured in the wind and the dim gloom of the moon washed out over the ground in a dappled pattern.
Mikael's hand had curled in the short strands of my hair, pressing the knife to my throat with the other. He was pressing the knife hard enough against my windpipe to leave a mark, yet not hard enough to cut. Pin prickles of pain ran up my right arm and the odd silence that had befallen the two men only broken by my shallow, puffing gasps.
"You took my doppelgänger," Klaus drawled, breaking the silence. He looked careless, head cocked to the side and I wondered. I tried to imagine what it felt like.
To feel such hate.
To stare at the face of a man who'd raised, abused, and later sworn to kill him. I couldn't. I didn't think I'd ever been hated quite like that.
"And you followed her trail like the dog you are." He grinned almost gloatingly, and, the knife pressed harder against my throat. It was sharp. Sharp enough to slide through my skin easily and have me bleed out in only seconds. I had died in this universe before and, although I knew it was selfish, I wouldn't magically appear in my other body if I did again, so I'd rather not. I would be dead.
And I didn't want to die.
But what could I begin against Mikael without a dagger with a coat of White Oak stake ash or the stake itself? My heart was racing, adrenaline stirring me to act, to fight, and it pushed the pain in my shoulder back until it was nothing more than a strange buzz.
Almost numb.
It wasn't an unwelcome feeling. It spread to my fingertips and my toes, and, finally, my breathing slowed, and, with it, my racing pulse. I had felt this once before, this cold, clinical detachment. When my father, my real father, had gotten a heart attack when I'd been fourteen, I'd felt that same coldness.
"Let her go!" Klaus demanded. "Wasn't it me you wanted?"
"Go? For you to run, little boy?" He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "I do not think so, Niklaus."
"Using a human as leverage? And you call me the coward." Klaus mused, surveying the scene with dispassionate eyes. It had started to rain, drizzle really, and Mikael buried a hand in my hair and pulled my head back, to the side, craning my neck. From my peripheral vision, I noticed Klaus stiffen. The muscles in his cheeks tensed involuntarily, "So this is your grand scheme? Hiding behind the girl?"
The blade of the knife pricked infinitesimally harder, but otherwise, Mikael didn't move. I felt the deep baritone of his voice ring through me when he spoke again, sounding amused."Your hiding place leaves much to be desired, doesn't it Niklaus? It seems my absence has made you lax."
Klaus let out a snort and finally, I too realized there was something stuffed in his pocket — a stake probably — and Klaus smirked. "You expected me to come without a weapon? Shame on you."
A condescending smile curved Mikael's mouth. "Perhaps," he conceded and the foliage not far behind Klaus shivered before several figures emerged. Some I recognized from Nashville, some I did not, but I knew what they were. My breath escaped me in a gasping breath; Hybrids. And there were a lot of them.
"You didn't come alone." A condescending smile curved his mouth. "All these abominations."
"Hm," Klaus smiled jovially, and held his index finger just an inch over his thumb, "I only have to rub these two fingers together and they tear you limb from limb."
"The big bad wolf, hiding behind your playthings. You haven't changed, boy." Mikael drawled and I swallowed thickly when the blade drew over the underside of my jaw. "Yet, without her, your little minions will be the last batch."
Somehow that made my blood boil. I'd known I would be used as bait. Mikael's intention had been laughable obvious, but for me to only die as a fuck-you to Klaus— I brought my good arm up, and to Mikael's wrist, pushing at it and Klaus' eyes veered over me.
I could imagine what he saw.
My hands were covered in blood and none of it was my own. He would probably be able to tell that. Teeth gritting together, I pushed as hard against Mikael's arm as I could.
The blade shivered against me and nicked my earlobe. Past the brief sting, it barely registered, although I did feel the small ooze of blood trickling down my neck. I shuddered involuntarily.
However, he held his arm differently now, the knife angled against the side of my jaw and I swallowed. He wouldn't let me have the upper hand again — of course, that stake was the last thing I'd had for a weapon and now, there was little left I could do. I would die at the hands of this monster.
His blood had left deep, dark stains on the sleeves of my shirt and had crusted on my skin.
I supposed my death was indeed inevitable. Aside from the immense satisfaction, it would probably give Mikeal to destroy something Klaus would need, my refusal to cooperate and my brief moment of victory had sealed that. Proud and stubborn, Mikael obviously wouldn't stand for a human girl getting the better of him.
They were exchanging quips now — I couldn't hear them, my heartbeat thundering in my ears and the numbness was still there. Somehow, that struck me as important.
Somehow, I thought it might have been my survival instinct. I hadn't known I possessed it in the first place and when the knife moved away from my pulse point, I let my right hand trail down my left arm. The limb was strangely chilly, as though the damage to the shoulder was worse than I'd initially thought.
What would the real Elena have done now? She always came out of a disaster relatively unharmed and protected. She would probably have been saved by one of her Salvatores or even Bonnie's magic. I almost let a wan smile pull my lips up. I'd alienated all of those options.
I encountered the beads of my charm bracelet. My vervain charm bracelet and a sudden thought startled me out of my pensive immobility.
My eyes widened, my heart skipped a whole beat, and my index finger drew over the small round silver ball John had filled with crushed vervain. Klaus had never bothered to take it from me, nor had I considered using it in any way, but now—
Super strength or not, vervain was still a weakness. A weakness I could exploit. A weakness that might buy me enough time to get out of his grasp.
I became aware of the freezing rain striking my face and the wind raking past my face, chilling my cheeks and the tip of my nose. Mikael's heart thundered against his sternum, drumming against my back, and his aura of power made my skin crawl. A tingle racing up my spine.
"—Yes, all to put the bastard down," Klaus' voice was sharper now, hurt curling around his words.
I had no idea what else had been said but I could feel his breath fanning down my neck.
Carefully, I peeked up at the Original's face. Black spider veins had formed around the man's eyes and my stomach roiled. He might like to tell people he didn't drink human blood, but I was not willing to test out that theory.
It was simple, really, I thought as I unclasped my bracelet. My bad arm was not completely useless, and as long as this strange numbness took the brunt of the pain, I could use it to knock Mikael's arm away once I'd pushed the vervain in his face.
Perhaps, I could—
Honestly, it was as good as any plan against this man, and I tested how much I could turn in his hold.
He might be too busy taunting Klaus — I could feel his nose slide past my ear — but his grip had relaxed enough for me to push my shoulder against his chest. The knife was against my collar bone, and although a pain even the numbness couldn't mask lanced through my shoulder, I pushed my left arm up.
I will never be able to thank my parents enough for making me go to all those self-defense classes. However, if I survived this ordeal I would start following more of them, and any child I'd have would learn how to fight as soon as it could walk.
A gleam of the devil-may-care was still in Mikael's eyes, even as they widened fractionally, and I pushed the charm bracelet in his face. His skin fizzled, the knife nicked my skin, right above my collarbone but beneath my rapid beating carotid artery.
It struck deep, warm blood seeping into the front of my clothes, and I used every bit of strength I possessed to push his arm aside, before driving my elbow into Mikeal's nose.
I must have screeched as birds scattered in alarm, and I moved forward. What, I only had a second? Perhaps two? My body hit the ground with a smack that sent tremors running through my injured shoulder, but I ignored it, pushing myself up to my hands and knees.
A screech tore from my throat when two hands wrapped around my upper arms.
I felt a stab of panic twist beneath my sternum like that knife that would undoubtedly be twisted into my heart in mere seconds, but instead I met Klaus' stormy eyes as he hoisted me to my feet.
Astonishment had arched his brows, and I thought I saw a glimmer of respect, but I couldn't dwell on it. He had turned to his father, whose skin had healed already and who looked quite gobsmacked. I felt a thrill of satisfaction curl through me, but it didn't last long.
Klaus pushed me behind him, "go, Elena."
Mikael's face had turned murderous, and Klaus charged at his father, probably brandishing his weapon with fervor, and I turned around— and I ran.
I heard the ongoing ruckus behind me, Klaus, and his hybrids against Mikael, but I didn't let up. I ran, as fast as I could. Thin, harsh branches welted my skin, snapping against my limbs and twigs catching in my hair. The rain was stinging my face, and I hoped I was going the right way again. My heart struck my ribs with harsh, painful thuds and I had nothing but instinct to guide me—
I wasn't sure how long I was running. Time seemed to pass in a haze of sweet unreality, burning calves, and puffing, deep gasps.
The sky hung dark and brooding above me and I was squinting into the darkness. The world around me was barely recognizable, but my quick step never faltered. It was of no use, of course.
Outrunning a supernatural, especially a millennia-old vampire wasn't an option. Even if I had a better view or if I actually knew where around town I actually was, outrunning a vampire didn't happen.
The one thing I did understand, was that I had to put as much distance between Mikael and myself as possible.
It was hard to keep track of where I was going, and I wasn't sure how long I'd walked around, but the drizzle lessened and with it, pale moonlight slanted from the sky.
My right hand had curled around my left arm to keep it steady against my chest. From the distance a sound I'd never heard before traveled along the trees and my muscles tensed.
It sounded almost crazed, desperate, inhuman, and it chilled me to the bone. I couldn't even tell who it was but it urged me on, push harder through the pain. The trees were beginning to thin, some of the gloominess lifting, the muddy ground turning to long grass.
I had come about a large clearing, knee-high foliage tickling my ankles and for a moment, I stood still in the deep, dark shadows of the large conifers.
A sudden flash of flight had caught my attention, a steady beam that shone for a moment, before vanishing again and I went stiff. My gaze darted to the beam of light that rushed through the trees and my eyebrows furrowed together.
It swept around again and I sucked the inside of my cheek between my molars. It looked like a fucking flashlight and although I couldn't be sure, I didn't think a vampire would need one. Which meant— those were humans and they were coming my way.
Half crouching, I scuttled past the conifers and trees, hooking my fingers around the thin branches of a low-hanging tree and pushed them aside. My heart was thumping harshly against my sternum and my breathing came in silent puffing gasps.
"—told you we shouldn't have trusted him." A rather familiar voice huffed and I craned my neck.
"What else was I supposed to do? This is my daughter, Liz." A male voice answered irritably.
I took a breath, but pressure squeezed it right back out of me. I definitely recognized that voice. "John?"
"Elena!"
He'd crossed the distance impossibly fast, the flashlight zoning in on me as if it somehow had a mind on its own, and a moment later, his arms had wrapped tightly around my shoulders. It was so out of character, I could just stand awkwardly, listening to his mumbled apologies and when he held me at arm-space again, my mouth twisted into a pathetic approximation of a smile.
"I— I'm fine," I muttered and almost laughed genuinely at his pointed look. "Okay, I'm alive."
"Did the hunter do this?"
"Yeah," I agreed. The branches above were moving, coiling, and uncoiling above our heads. "We have to get out of here." I tried even as Liz categorized my wounds, pushing my tousled, short hair away from my neck and probing my pained shoulder. When she found me to be in no mortal danger, she gave John a tight look, pushing me in the direction they came from.
"She's right, John. Let the vampires fight it out."
I chewed on my lip, frowning as I let that sink in, and then I understood. Coldness churned into my blood and I breathed out harshly. "Mikael came here because of you, didn't he?"
"He agreed to help get rid of Klaus," John said defensively.
"Did he agree to pop my shoulder and hurt me too?"
John's face turned reddish. "He said he needed you as bait. I didn't think he was going to hurt you…"
Even to me, it sounded like a weak excuse and I frowned, but no anger came. Mikael hadn't cared for my safety or well-being beyond making sure I was still breathing by the time Klaus came. Why had John thought he'd care? Even with all of his holier-than-thou act, he was still a vampire.
"How did you even get into touch with him?" And then my eyebrows furrowed together. "Isobel!"
"You don't understand."
And I snorted. "Of course! You're working with her, aren't you?"
If John was surprised, he didn't let it show. "She's been trying to help you."
"I doubt it," I grumbled. Turning into a vampire and turning it off— Isobel cared for no one.
"Elena—"
"He won't succeed anyway." I decided. And he wouldn't. Klaus had been too calm. I hadn't considered that before, but with his army visualized, and with what I knew about the original story, I actually hadn't changed much. Klaus and Mikael still had their moment. Perhaps not in front of the Lockwood mansion, but they still had their moment. And without me changing or damage the outcome, I was sure Klaus wouldn't die.
But I wasn't sure I wouldn't—
The trees thinned, and we came to a long dirt road. I noticed John's car just a bit up the road. It wasn't the only one.
I was unsurprised to notice Liz's car behind John's, easily recognizable even with the lack of light. However, I was surprised to see Caroline Forbes standing beside her mother's car. I hadn't seen her since— well, I couldn't remember when the last time was that I saw her.
She noticed me suddenly, her eyes widened almost comically and in a blur, she appeared before me.
"El!" She smiled, relief so obviously making her face go slack I felt somewhat honored
"Hi, Caroline, how have you been?" I asked awkwardly.
"I'm so happy you're okay!" She grinned, and I got the distinct impression she wanted to hug me but was holding back. Wringing her hands together, her eyes flitted over my body, "Or okayish I suppose."
"Right, yes. We— we don't have time right now, Care!" I mumbled worriedly, wincing when I jostled my arm facing the jeep. "We have to get out of here. All of us!" And I turned towards John, my eyebrows furrowing together, and my nose wrinkled. "Mikael can't be trusted—" and my lips twisted into a saccharine smile, "—nor can Klaus, I suppose, but we can't stay here."
"Yes," he agreed, his tight expression faltering. Caroline took a slow step back, her face pale.
"Mom?"
"Yes, Caroline," Liz agreed with some unspoken request and even John nodded.
I ran my tongue along the edge of my teeth, shooting John a pointed look and as he pulled the door to the passenger seat open, reluctantly, I climbed into the passenger seat, strapping on my seatbelt. John eased back in the driver's seat.
Nothing happened.
His fingers curled around the car keys, he stared unseeingly through the windscreen. I swallowed, a flicker of pain thrumming through my arm and an echo of a throbbing in my back ribs and I curled my toes into my shoes. "John?"
"Yes," he mumbled.
"Why are we still standing here?"
John shook his head, angling towards me. "I'm sorry." He said in a quiet, solemn voice.
"Everyone is always sorry," I answered.
"I am, Elena."
"I know."
"If I'd known—" he started and then stopped himself.
"Did you know who Klaus was when you met him last day?"
John squeezed his eyes closed, his face gaunt in the faint car's overhead light. "Yes, I knew he'd taken you."
"Was it all a lie?" I asked, something fizzing inside my body, my heart rate quickening. "Jeremy?"
"Oh God, no!" He disagreed. "Jeremy would never do that to you."
"So he's really—"
"He is doing better," John explained, and my heart whipped an angry beat inside my chest. So the vampire blood had helped, after all, it didn't diminish the sudden frizzle of feeling churning through me. My stomach flipped, and feeling suddenly, almost nauseatingly, returned to my body. A gasp escaped my lips and my injured shoulder screamed in agony. The hot pain made tears gather on my eyelashes and I gritted my teeth together.
"I think I need to see a doctor," I gasped out.
"We get someone to take a look at you when we're safe," he decided, his brain racking back in motion and he started his car.
For most of the journey through the strangely quiet town of Mystic Falls, I just sat there, unmoving, teeth clenched together.
Maybe it was the overload of memories, that caused me to zone out. Maybe it was what happened when the body tuned out pain when there wasn't an actual life-and-death situation to escape and it was only when John parked in front of the Forbes house, I regained my focus, shaking my dead-eyed stare from the dashboard.
Clutching my arm tightly against my chest, afraid to jostle it, I followed John inside.
My pulse was a flurry, and when John toed his loafers off, I too scuffed out of my shoes and, although I wasn't sure if my shoes were any dirtier than my socks, let Liz guide me into the living room. Directed into an uncomfortable wooden chair, I was surprised to see Meredith Fell sitting on the couch, holding a leather doctor's bag.
"Hi Elena," she greeted, her voice soft and to the point. Short and professional. "I'm Meredith Fell."
"Hi," I answered lamely.
"I heard you hurt your shoulder?"
"I— yeah, I think I dislocated it," I admitted and the dark-haired woman nodded, moving behind me and helping me out of my jacket.
A low whine escaped my lips and when the jacket was finally off, I blinked against the sting of tears as Meredith probed the shoulder (I supposed it counted as gently) and assessed the harm. I drew in a shuttering breath sharply, when she pushed her fingers against a painful spot.
"Okay, Elena, I need you to take a deep breath." She instructed.
"What?" I mumbled and then when I did what she asked, she reseted my shoulder and I screamed.
When my shoulder was reset, my arm sitting in a sling, and I was dosed with pain medication, I sat dazedly in the Forbes' living room, a steaming cup tea in front of me.
The joint still ached but the drug did take the edge off it. A hard stone sat in my stomach and while John and Liz argued in soft, heated voices, Caroline and I waited in the living room. I wasn't sure for what, but I felt immensely uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry I've been so distant with you," I finally settled on you.
"No," She disagreed, "no, it wasn't your fault. You had a lot on your plate."
I opened my mouth to argue, but she shook her head, shooting me a look that begged me not to argue and I sighed, holding up one hand. "Okay, so it is your fault. I'm fine with that."
Her mouth twitched, not quite a smile, but I thought it beat the morose expression from before. Something fell, broke, and shattered in the kitchen and I flinched, eyes flitting toward the door. Caroline's light blue eyes flashed and her mouth pursed. "They're arguing about what they should do. They think from the way you acted that you're into trouble no matter which Original wins."
"He's right." I agreed. "But Mikael won't win."
"He should," Caroline mumbled curling a charging cable around her fingers. "John— your uncle has a dagger. When the hunter returns, we—"
"Caroline," I interrupted, trying and failing to lean back more comfortably, "I told you before. Bonnie, you and the Salvatores hail from Klaus' sire line. I told you if he dies, you die—"
"Abby said there's no way you can be sure about that."
"Abby?"
"Yeah, Bonnie's mom," she agreed, "when you disappeared— when Klaus took you, we had to do something. Bonnie is back too, you know. Abby tracked her down and—"
"Caroline, I don't understand, slow down. Start from the beginning!"
"Okay," she agreed, and inhaled deeply, "so you know after you learned about Bonnie's meddling or parallel universe Bonnie's meddling, we realized you needed some time to come to terms with everything. We knew you tried, but it was obvious you weren't comfortable around Bonnie and me, and then— well, when Grayson— when he was gone, Bonnie couldn't handle it for a while."
"Yeah, I know, it's why she left."
"Right," she agreed, her fingers twisting into the hem of her shirt, "so when Bonnie left, I was alone and I thought we could, you know get better acquainted."
I summoned a thin smile, "but I blew you off?"
"No," she made a sound that I would describe as just unladylike and she waved her hand.
"Then what?"
"I met Klaus."
It was like being doused with iced water, like electricity running up my spine, raising every hair on my body, and my mouth went dry. "You met Klaus?"
"Yeah," she agreed.
A familiar chill settled in my stomach and my hands became clammy. Ignoring the urge to fidget, I reached out of my tea, which by now had lost most of its heat, and took a small sip. It was calming and eased some of the hollowness inside and I held the cup stiffly in my hand. "What did he do?"
"He, erm, he compelled me."
"What?" I had barely managed not to shout and winced when pain flared up my right arm. "When?"
"A few weeks ago," she answered and her eyebrows puckered together. "I didn't even know vampires could be compelled anyway. He told me to stay away from you and I— well, I did."
A broken, too-wet-sounding laugh left me, and harshly set my cup on the coffee table. My laughs turned into hysteria in seconds and a sharp slice of pain carved through my ribcage. I laughed until my breath had turned shallow and until pure undiluted anger curled through my bloodstream.
"God, that asshole!" I said between gasps. An icy-hot feeling flowed over my skin and I sucked my inner cheeks between my molars. "How did you even manage to break the compulsion?"
"Abby," Caroline answered.
"What? Do you mean she used magic?" I asked, and frowned. "I thought she wasn't practicing?"
"You were right," Caroline whispered. "She did care for Bonnie."
"And she started to practice again when we told her, her daughter was in danger?"
"No, she started practicing, awakening her magic or something, when the creepy scientists came by her house and threatened her for the location of Mikael."
I snorted, "That's how they knew? I thought they learned from Grayson. I never understood why he would want them to wake him. God, I hate those people." Disbelief thundered through me, and my mouth turned sour. "What exactly did he say? Klaus, I mean? He didn't threaten you?"
"He seemed to think threatening wouldn't work," Caroline answered. "So he told me I would stay away from you unless he said otherwise. He's been out there for a while, Elena, trying to find a way to get to you. He struck me as a man who likes theatrics."
"Oh, he does." I agreed and I shifted to my feet, pain flaring. "And I'm going to kill him."
"That is if John will ever let you out of his sight again."
"Right—" I let my eyes glide towards the closed kitchen door, "—that is if he ever does…"
(To be continued…)
A/N: For anyone wondering at this point if she will be capable to kill Klaus- Well, if she'd actually try, she might^^
Like always, please review, and let me know your thoughts, your ideas and predictions for this story.
Next update Friday over two week.
