A.N. Warning for graphic descriptions and threats of torture
Also, I know I said I was going to go back and edit my previous chapters but as it turns out I don't know how to and I have been up for thirty hours and I do not have the mental capacity to figure it out today.
Also the chapters keep getting longer because when I go through to spell check I keep writing more and I'm pretty sure I'm going to do that when I go back to edit the other chapters I'm gonna add a bunch of the stuff and I am determined to sleep before I go work a twelve at the hospital
Chapter Nine
"Good morning." Aailyah hummed, walking into their spacious kitchen and smiling at Rebekah, who hummed at her, carefully painting 3D flowers onto her nails, several bottles of polish and fine detail brushes she'd stolen from Klaus scattered on the island in front of her. "Pretty cherry blossoms."
"Want me to do yours?" Rebekah asked, and Aailyah smiled, shaking her head slightly, and glanced down at her own nails, delicate off white flowers painted over her french tips with a tiny gold pearl centered in each.
"I still love mine. I don't know how you have the patience to do yours every other day."
"There's nothing to do in this town. And the lilacs didn't match my outfit."
"I vote baby blue next time. Matches your eyes." Rebekah smiled slightly, and Aailyah reached forward, brushing her curls back before they got in her way. One of the few interests Klaus and Rebakah shared was art, although in different forms. Rebekah did her nails daily, changing them whenever the mood struck her, and often did Aaliyah's and occasionally Kols as well. "Tea?" Aailyah asked, turning towards the fridge when Bekah nodded, and began making herself and Rebekah Iced Chai Teas.
"Bonnie and Elena are looking for Bonnie's mother." Klaus announced, walking in through the backdoor and leaning against the counter, before pausing and narrowing his eyes at the thin detail brush Rebekah was holding. "That's mine!"
"You have a thousand brushes, Nik, learn to share." Rebekah huffed.
"I like that one!"
"So do I."
"How'd you know?" Aailyah cut in, changing the subject before an argument broke out.
"Elena showed up at the Sheriff's office and asked them to find every Abigail Bennett in the country."
"A thank you for getting a contact in the police station would be nice, Niklaus. As would an apology for complaining about having to chat with the 'useless plebeians' all night." Elijah cut in, kissing Aailyah on the cheek before stealing the claw clip from her hair and using it to pin back Rebekahs blonde curls as they fell in her face again.
"Thank you." Rebekah chimed while Klaus rolled his eyes.
"I'll get to that. Someday."
"This is why Rebekahs my favorite."
"That's a strange thing to do on Elena's last days to find the coffin." Aailyah jumped in again. "You got copies, right?"
"Perhaps she forgot, she's not exactly the sharpest sword in the armory." Rebekah huffed, while Klaus shook his head, handing her a file folder.
"True, but she's not that stupid. She knows exactly what we're capable of. And I didn't need all the copies, I found her."
"All on your own?" Rebekah mocked, smirking while Klaus glared at her.
"Why is she wasting her time with Bonnie's mother? Elena knows very well what we are capable of, you'd think she'd be busy looking for the coffin." Elijah hummed, wrapping his arms around Aailyahs waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Perhaps she already knows. The coffin was spelled shut, Stefan probably had the Bennett witch try to open it. I'm betting she told Elena."
"So, go beat it out of her. I'm ready to leave this shoebox town." Bekah mocked, blowing on her nails while Klaus stole his brush from her, walking to the sink to rinse it off.
"We had a deal, sister. No one touches her till it's over." Elijah said. "Although it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on it."
"I'll send one of my hybrids to her moms, get ahead of the game." Klaus pulled out his phone, stepping back to make the call as Kol walked in, tossing his keys on the counter and making his way to the coffee machine.
"Fun night?" Aailyah grinned, taking in the messy hair and disheveled clothes he'd worn the night before.
"Mm, great night, messy morning. What's her name wanted breakfast, and dinner, and eventually, I'm sure, a wedding."
"Ah, commitment, your worst enemy. Did you faint?"
F&A
"I've got the location." Klaus announced later that day.
"Perfect." Aailyah beamed. "I'll drive."
"Absolutely not." Klaus snatched her keys from her hand, and she huffed at him. "You can drive if I have your phone. The whole time."
"I don't know why you're so scared of crashing, it's not like it'll kill us." Aailyah pouted, walking past him and sliding into the passenger seat of her car.
"The way you drive, I'm not so sure." They bickered the whole drive, and Aailyah wrinkled her nose slightly when Klaus pulled over, near the forest, turning to smirk at her. "We'll have to walk from here." He drawled, grinning when she glared down at her strappy black six inch Louboutin heels.
"You planned this."
"You don't have to wear heels, Alli."
"I like stepping on people with them." She grumbled, before sighing and throwing the car door open, stepping out and grimacing slightly when they sank into the soft dirt slightly. She turned to pout at Nik, and he shook his head immediately.
"No."
"This is why Kols my favorite." They walked through the woods, Aailyah swearing under her breath the whole time, until they reached an old, abandoned lodge in the woods, covered in vines and dirt, with every window broken.
"They could've picked a nicer place to put it." Klaus grumbled, glancing around as they started searching every room.
"She spent the last fifty years in moving trucks and warehouses, love, I don't think she cares." They searched the house quickly and found nothing, before walking down to the basement,finding it lit by hundreds of candles with Damon waiting.
"Klaus, Aailyah." He nodded nervously.
"All done hiding behind your witchy friends? In squalor no less." Klaus mocked, before the candles in the house flared bright and he and Aailyah dropped to their knees, screaming in agony as pain ripped through their skulls, making them see white. Damon smirked, watching them squirm for a moment as Klaus tried and failed to push himself to his feet.
"Insulting a bunch of dead witches is not a smart idea. Trust me, I made the same mistake the first time."
"You know the funny thing about witches? Living or dead, they care about their descendants." Klaus spat, struggling to his feet.
"A hundred dead witches have a thousand living descendants, and I promise you, I will hunt each of them down and we will kill them all!" Aailyah roared, using a nearby table to pull herself to her feet.
"As we speak my hybrid friend is prepared to end the Bennett line." Klaus swore and the pain stopped abruptly, leaving their ears ranging slightly. Klaus smirked at Damon, and brushed himself off. "Now, please, show me my coffin." Nothing happened and Klaus scowled. "Give me my coffin!" He shouted and Damon grinned and stepped forward.
"Well, here's the thing. They can't. It's not here."
"What did you do?" Aailyah sighed.
"Well, Bonnie was able to give me a heads up, so I got it out of here. I texted Stef the location, and by the time you get it out of me, he'll have moved it."
"Well done Damon, you used your brain for the first time in one hundred and fifty years. Did it hurt? Was there smoke?" Aailyah mocked, making him scowl. She pulled out her phone and Damon stepped forward to stop her, but Klaus grabbed him around the throat and slammed him into the wall, choking him.
"Hello?"
"I'm rather disappointed Elena, I thought we had a deal."
"Aailyah?"
"I contain my family from mauling yours for three days and you give me the location of the coffin, what about that was not clear?"
"I- uh-"
"You are aware that our little truce ends tomorrow, yes?"
"Aaliyah-"
"And come 7:36 tomorrow if Niklaus doesn't have his coffin he will come after you. He's had three days to plan, and fair warning, he can be creative."
"I didn't have a choice-"
"Everyone has a choice. Your choice was peace or war. I have never broken any of my deals with you Elena. Was giving blood every few months in exchange for peace and protection for you and your town too much for you, princess?" Aailyah mocked. "We have been more than generous. You have twenty four hours of peace left. You and Stefan will be at our home at seven tomorrow for dinner, and by the end of it we will have the coffin. And because I trust you not at all, one of my vampires is stationed outside of Jennas school and another is on a study date with Jeremy. Now I'm not as creative as my brother, but I get very upset when people arent on time. It's one of my pet peeves. If you're not on time, I'll have both of them hanging from the Mystic Falls clock tower by their entrails. Am I clear?"
"Yes! Just don't hurt them!"
"Wonderful. Don't worry, we'll keep Damon entertained." Aailyah smirked and hung up. She nodded to Klaus, who snapped Damon's neck and tossed him over his shoulder, carrying him to the car and tossing him in the trunk.
F&A
"Really Alli? A dinner party?" Rebekah snapped, throwing their bedroom door open. Elijah groaned, pulling away and Aailyah laughed, adjusting the button up she'd stolen from him to cover the new marks on her throat.
"Sister, now is not the best time." Elijah sighed, fingers tightening on her hips.
"You can shag later, why do we have to entertain that annoying bint?"
"To get-"
"Yes, yes, the coffin. Can't we just beat the location out of them?"
"If they don't give us the location during dinner, you can do whatever you wish. Our deal ends tonight."
"Fine. But I want to invite someone."
"Who?"
"Lorenzo."
"Lorenzo's always welcome, you know that." Aailyah promised.
"Klaus is in a bad mood and Kol is… Kol. I want them both to promise not to hurt him."
"Klaus likes Lorenzo, but I'll talk to Kol."
"I still can't believe Klaus didn't kill him."
"He wanted to see you happy. And he really didn't want to see both of us pissed off at him at the same time. Again."
"That is never fun for anyone." Elijah agreed, and the girls smirked. "The two of you are a force to be reckoned with.
"Mrs. Mikaelson." Lorenzo greeted from the doorway.
"Lorenzo." Aailyah smiled as he kissed her hand. "Please come in. How was your flight?"
"It was lovely Ma'am, thank you for providing my ticket, you really didn't have to." Lorenzo offered his arm and Aailyah took it, leading him towards the family room. Lorenzo was one of her favorites, clever and charming and undyingly loyal since she had rescued him from Wittmore college after realizing her vampire contacts in the area kept going missing. He had quickly climbed the ranks and become one of Aaliyah's most trusted.
"It was my pleasure. Rebekahs mentioned how kind you are to her." Aailyah smiled as his ears went pink. "I don't believe you've met my husband and brother in law. Elijah and Niklaus, this is Lorenzo St. John." Aailyah introduced as they walked into the study.
"Pleasure to meet you both." Lorenzo said, shaking both of their hands firmly.
"You as well. What brings you all this way." Elijah asked, the corner of his mouth lifting to a small smirk.
"I- uh. I wanted to ask-." Lorenzo cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "As you know, I stayed with Rebekah and Kol on their cruise a couple months ago. Rebekah and I became friends, and she asked to stay in contact and we became close. I wanted to ask to court her properly." Klaus scowled and Aailyah patted his knee gently.
"Rather brave of you to come in person. I'm sure you know how protective I can be." Klaus smirked.
"I do. Rebekah tried to talk me out of this, but I insisted. I know how important her family is to her, and if we are going to be together, I don't want her fighting with her family because of it."
"And what are your intentions for my little sister?"
"All I want is to make her happy, for as long as she'll have me." Nik opened his mouth to speak but Aailyah put a hand on his knee.
"Nik, listen to his heart. Was he lying?"
"...No."
"So?" Nik hesitated again and Aailyah rolled her eyes. "Love, last time you killed a boyfriend Rebekah didn't speak to you for four months. Why not let her decide? Lorenzo asking permission in the first place was a courtesy he didn't need to do."
"If you hurt her I will show you horrors beyond your wildest dreams." Klaus snarled, turning to glare at the young man.
"If I hurt her, I won't fight you on that."
"Go get ready love, they'll be here within the hour. Lorenzo can stay as long as he likes, We'll have the cooks set another place at the table." Rebekah beamed and ran off to call her boyfriend and Aailyah stood, tucking Elijah's white button up into her denim shorts. "I'm gonna make Kol get ready. Could you talk to the cooks for me, love?"
"Of course Darling." Elijah kissed Aaliyah's cheek and she left to the basement, where Kol was entertaining Damon.
"Try it again, and do it right this time." Kol ordered, hands placed on the shoulders of the young ginger haired witch he'd found in Richmond and offered to train. She turned to give him a lovesick smile and Kol turned her to face the vampire chained to the wall, rolling his eyes when she'd turned away. He'd never been one to turn away a bit of fun while teaching, but this girl was more interested in flirting than learning the craft Kol had devoted his immortal life to.
"Ah Sha Lana." The witch chanted as Damon screamed.
"Kol." Aailyah interrupted, breaking the young girl's concentration. Damon drooped slightly in relief as the spell was lifted. "You know we're not supposed to touch them yet."
"Technically you promised that no one in our family would hurt them. Lydias is just a friend." Kol smirked, ignoring Lydia's scowl.
"Well, send your friend home, it's almost time for dinner. You should go get ready." Aailyah said, making Kol groan.
"Fine. Lydia can see herself out." He said, waving a hand toward her dismissively. The girl huffed but stomped out of the mansion headed towards the entrance, sending a hateful glare toward Aailyah on the way out.
"She's obsessed with you. It's creepy."
"Can you blame her?" Kol laughed, kissing her cheek and leaving to get changed. Aailyah turned to scan Damon, happy to find that other than being slightly pale and clammy, he looked none the worse for wear.
"I'll get you a blood bag, it'll help perk you up." Aailyah flashed out to grab a blood bag and tossed it to Damon, who ripped into it hungrily. "Better?"
"Bloods not bad, but seeing you in shorts is working wonders for me." Damon flirted weakly, making Aailyah laugh.
"Do you flirt with everyone or just with the girls who wear my face?"
"Everyone, but the girls with your face are my favorite."
"Well tonight you'll get to entertain two girls with my face."
"Imagine how epic our threeway could be."
"Ah yes, you, me, and the girl who hates both of us half the time."
"Sounds like a party." He smirked and Aailyah laughed.
"Sadly Damon, our epic threeway will never come to be."
"Oh come on, you've been with Elijah for a thousand years, you've gotta get bored eventually."
"He's got a thousand years of experience, luv. Trust me, I'm never bored." She grinned roguishly.
"I bet I could give him a run for his money."
"I really don't think so. Although, if you wanted to join the both of us for the night, I wouldn't be opposed." Damon paused at that, staring at her stunned. Although Aailyah could see a bit of intrigue in his eyes.
"Seriously? Elijah would rip my dick off for thinking about it."
"Like that's ever stopped you." Aailyah laughed. "A thousand years, Damon. We like to experiment sometimes. Just for fun, of course.
"Of course." Damon cleared his throat. "Reassuring as that is, with everything going on, I don't exactly want to risk it right now."
"Your loss." Aailyah shrugged easily.
"Alli, they'll be here soon." Elijah said, standing inside the doorway and watching her with a small, amused smirk. Aailyah smiled and strutted over, pushing up on her toes and tangling her fingers into his hair to pull him into a deep, slow kiss. Elijah hummed and pulled her closer by her belt loops, nipping at her bottom lip before she pulled back, brushing her nose against his. She felt Damon's eyes on them and smirked.
"Come with me?"
"Always." Elijah kissed her once more before following her out of the room, nodding at the vampire guarding the door. She led him to their room, releasing his hand and slipping into a black open back halter dress ended at mid thigh. Elijah helped her zip it and Aailyah screwed with her curls for a while before pinning half of it back and away from her face. Elijah wrapped his arms around her waist as she pulled a couple curls out to hang around her face freely.
"What do you think we should do after all this?" Aailyah asked, leaning back against him.
"I was thinking we could go away for a while, just you and me."
"Yeah? Where do you want to go?"
"We haven't been to Bora Bora in a while."
"That sounds wonderful, Lijah." Aailyah turned to kiss his cheek, before pausing to run her fingers through his hair, pushed back messily. She straightened it, smiling at the sight. "I like your hair like that. Combed back."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. 'S sexy."
"Hm." Elijah hummed, leaning down to kiss her but paused when the doorbell rang, Kol and Rebekah shouting 'not it' at the same time. Aailyah laughed and kissed him quickly, pulling back with a playful grin.
"Not it." She said, making him roll his eyes and link her arm with his, walking her downstairs to the front door. They opened it and found an annoyed looking Stefan and a nervous Elena waiting for them.
"Rebekah, Kol, Niklaus, our guests have arrived." Elijah called, gesturing for them to come in.
"Where's Damon?" Elena asked.
"Lila, could you be a dear and tell Jason to bring Damon here please?" Aailyah asked one of the waitresses they'd hired for the night, who nodded and left to find the vampire guarding Damon.
"We could skip this whole thing if you'd just tell us where the bloody coffin is." Rebekah sighed, strolling in holding Lorenzo's hand. Elena scowled, seeing the necklace Stefan had given her dangling around Rebekah's neck, but seeing the girl's smug look, decided not to say anything.
"Not gonna happen." Stafan snapped.
"I think you'll change your mind when I rip out your liver and force you to eat it." Kol drawled, making Elena turn slightly green. Kol turned, examining Enzo for a moment, eyes narrowing on their intertwined hands. "I've come to like you mate, but if you don't let go of my sister I'll do the same to you."
"Kol." Aailyah warned.
"Fine. If you hurt her I'll make you eat something a lot worse than your liver." Aailyah rolled her eyes at his dramatics.
"I'm glad you could make it Enzo, I hope the drive wasn't too bad. I know that it was last minute."
"Rebekah wanted me here, so I came." Rebekah beamed and Aailyah smiled approvingly while Kol rolled his eyes.
"I'm surrounded by lovesick fools."
"So you've said for the last thousand years. Klaus, stop glaring at Enzo, he's not the one we're after tonight." Elijah drawled. Klaus turned his glare to his brother, but Elijah ignored him. Damon grunted when Jason shoved him into the entryway, fixing his jacket and glaring at the vampire, who nodded at Aailyah and quickly left. Damon's eyes trailed over the lot of them, widening when they met Lorenzo's.
"Enzo?" he breathed.
"Hello mate." the man said, wrapping his arm around Rebekah.
"You two know each other?" Aailyah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We met years ago at Whittmore, before he left me to die in a fire." Lorenzo drawled, smirking when Damon looked away, guilty.
"Well, you can give us more details about that later. Shall we get started?
"Yes, now that we're all here, we can talk this over like civilized men." Klaus said, gesturing at the table already loaded up with food.
"It's better to indulge him." Elijah murmured, leading Aailyah to the table and pulling out her chair for her. She smiled at him as everyone made their way to the table, bar Stefan.
"I didn't come here to eat, Klaus. In fact, I didn't wanna come here at all."
"And we didn't want to have you here, but here we are." Rebekah snarked, leaning into Enzo's shoulder.
"Well, we can sit down and eat or I can reach down your throats and pull out your intestines, the choice is yours." Klaus smirked, making Stefan go quiet and join them at the table. The tension in the room was thick, though Aailyah noticed most of it was centered around the Salvatore's and Elena. Once Stefan sat, the waitresses poured them wine and the Mikaelsons started to eat. Damon played along, eating and staring at the waitresses while Elena glared at him and Stefan glared at Klaus. "You lost your appetite." Klaus commented, noticing Stefan wasn't eating.
"Eat, I was hoping you decided to leave the grumpy Stefan at home." Damon said, glaring at his brother. Stefan scowled but picked up his fork to start eating.
"I'm sensing a bit of tension there boy, are we having family troubles?" Kol mocked, grinning impishly.
"Could it be because Elena kissed Damon?" Rebekah asked, batting her eyes mockingly. She smirked at Elena's horrified look. "You and your friends really need to learn some subtlety when talking in public."
"Interesting. Has Elena ended her relationship with Stefan before starting one with the next, or does she need so much attention that she's stringing both along?" Kol asked mockingly as Elena's face reddened, humiliated.
"I think the issue isn't why Elena allows two men to chase her at once, but why Stefan and Damon are putting a girl they met a year ago over each other?" Aailyah mocked.
"One more word about me and Elena, and this dinner is over." Stefan snapped.
"Why, Stefan? I thought you didn't care? Or maybe your switch isn't as off as you thought?" Aailyah hummed, taking a sip of her wine.
"It is. I'd have absolutely no remorse over dropping that coffin in the Arctic, or jumping the table and stabbing you in the face."
"Try it." Aailyah laughed with a challenging smirk.
"Stefan." Damon warned.
"We're here to make a deal, not kiss their collective asses for seven courses." Stafan snapped.
"Make a deal? You have very little to negotiate with, Stefan." Elijah said, raising an eyebrow.
"The coffin-"
"Yes the coffin. But tell me, if all three of you are here with us, how exactly are you going to drop it in the arctic?" Klaus said, making them pause.
"Apparently you misunderstood me when I invited you to dinner. This isn't a negotiation. Our little truce ends in less than half an hour, and instead of making things messy and going after your friends and family, I decided to focus on you."Aailyah drawled.
"We'll get the location out of one of you soon enough, the others are just here so they can't move the coffins again. We've got people watching all of your friends, so they can't help you, except for Bonnie Bennett, who I assume is with the coffin. Even so, I doubt she can move a coffin around town by herself without someone noticing." Elijah continued.
"We won't be that easy to break." Stefan snapped, making Kol grin.
"I wouldn't be so sure. Little known fact, before our father met mother, he was a viking, and he told us many stories about his time on the seas, and more importantly, what they did to men without honor. Have you ever heard of the blood eagle?" Damons mouth tightened and Elena shook her head silently. "It's a rather interesting form of torture they used. First, they'd peel the skin off of your back, then they'd snap your ribs one by one and pull them back, like wings. Then they'd pull out your lungs and let them hang outside your body while you suffocated. A slow, agonizing death. Now Elena is lucky, she'd only be able to do it once, but you two, well, we'll see how many times we can do it before you crack." Kol chuckled, eyeing Elena, who'd turned slightly green.
"Or," Rebekah cut in. "You could tell us where the bloody coffin is and we can skip that and the mess that follows." Aailyah glanced down when her phone started to vibrate, furrowing her eyebrows when her phone started buzzing.
"Excuse me." She murmured, pushing back from the table, bringing the ringing phone to her ear. "Caroline?"
"Aaliyah-" Caroline's voice broke.
"What's wrong?"
"It's my dad, he-" Caroline cut herself off. "If I ask you something, will you be honest with me?"
"Of course."
"Did you or anyone in your family go after or send anyone after my dad?" The girl asked, making Aailyah's eyebrows furrow.
"Not to my knowledge, no."
"I need to know Aailyah. Please."
"Hang on." Aailyah re-entered the dining room. "Did anyone go after Caroline's dad?"
"What?" Elena demanded, jumping to her feet as Aailyahs family collectively shook their heads. "What's happening?" Aailyah waved her hand at the girl dismissively, turning to leave the room.
"No, no one went after your dad. What happened?"
"My- my dad he- he died. With Vampire blood in his system, but he's refusing to drink human blood to finish the change and- he's, he's going to die."
"Oh, Caroline, that's awful. I'm sorry." Aailyah murmured, before her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Wait, why did he have vampire blood in his system? How'd he die?"
"I- it's a long story. Not important. Um, you know there's been those murders in town lately? The council members? We think whoever's doing that attacked him. He says he didn't see anything so I don't know."
"But how-"
"It's not important. Do you remember anything about your Dad? What was he like?" Aaliyah's eyes narrowed slightly, but she let Caroline change the subject.
"I was never close with my Father. When we grew up, daughters were basically sold off for their dowries, everyone knew that. My father made it clear he'd sell us to the highest bidder, and I took offense to that. I don't know if you've noticed but I like being in control of my fate." Caroline giggled slightly and Aailyah smiled. "Things got a lot worse after my sister got pregnant. He was so ashamed of us. He took her daughter away and dragged us far enough away that no one knew who we were, but he never forgave Tatia for getting pregnant. It was like he blamed me too."
"Do you miss him at all?"
"I haven't thought of him in a long time, actually." Aailyah admitted quietly. "After mother passed, he was… distant. Cold. It was like there was a stranger living in his body. To me, I lost my father a long time before he actually died."
"Oh."
"The one good thing he did for me, I never thanked him for. He brought me to the Mikaelsons. They became my family." Caroline was silent for a few moments. "The people who are there for you are so much more important than the people who are supposed to be."
"He's trying. He was trying to be better, and now he's just…giving up!"
"I'm sorry he won't be better for you Caroline." Aailyah said quietly, and Caroline sobbed quietly.
"Caroline?"
"Hey, um, Bonnies here. I-I gotta go. Thank you. For being honest with me."
"Anytime, luv." Aailyah returned to the dining room in time to see Klaus twist Stefan's arm, snapping his elbow and dragging him over the table towards the fireplace, shoving his hand into the flames. Elena screamed alongside Stefan and Damon rushed to help him, but was caught by Kol and slammed against a wall by his throat. "What'd I miss?"
"We told stories and got bored of playing nice." Rebekah laughed, leaning against Lorenzo.
"Aailyah please, our deal-" Elena begged.
"Of course. Niklaus, please refrain from maiming or killing the boy for another two minutes and fifteen seconds." Aailyah said. nodding at the clock before sitting next to her husband and leaning against his shoulder, smiling up at him when he kissed the crown of her head.
"That clocks two minutes behind." Elijah hummed, checking his watch.
"Oh. Well never mind then." Aailyah shrugged as Klaus grinned and shoved Stefans hand farther into the flames.
"Stop! Stop, I'll tell you!" Elena yelled.
"Elena-" Damon snapped before choking when Kol tightened his grip around his throat.
"Please, I'll bring you the coffin, just don't hurt him!" Elena begged.
"Wonderful." Klaus grinned, releasing Stefan and turning to Elena as Stefan clutched his burned hand to his chest. "Where is it?"
"Under the Lockwood grounds, in the tunnels. Vampires can't get in." Elena admitted.
"Then you will help us remove it. Let's go." Aailyah smirked as she and her siblings turned to leave, freezing when an older woman entered the room. She appeared to be in her early forties, with long blond hair similar to Rebekah and Klaus and piercing brown eyes, matching Elijah and Kol.
"Mother." Rebekah breathed. As her family gaped at the woman, Aailyah jumped into action.
"Take them and leave. This is a family matter." Aailyah ordered, tossing them their phones that she'd confiscated at their arrival. Stefan started to protest but surprisingly, Elena stepped in.
"Stefan, Caroline's dad is dead and Alaric is in the hospital. I don't care about the coffin, we're leaving." She snapped, glancing up from the messages on her phone and striding out the door, completely ignoring the stranger watching her. After a moment, Damon and Stefan followed.
"My children." Esther greeted, before turning her gaze to Klaus. Klaus locked eyes with her and then looked away, guilty. "Look at me." Esther demanded when she reached him. "Do you know why I'm here?" Esther asked when he met her eyes.
"Are you here to kill me?" Klaus said shakily.
"Niklaus, you are my son, and I am here to forgive you."