Caroline's head was boiling. The witches were boiling the blood in her head, bursting the vessels in her brain faster than they could heal.

She cried out. Witches and their little tricks. She bet that these witches had followed her and Kol here. They wanted to take them out all at once did they? Everyone knew that to slight one of the Originals was to slight them all, so it made sense that they would try to make it so there would be no retaliation. With Klaus incapacitated the Originals would lose their biggest dog when it came to threats of violence. Caroline cried out once again.

She needed to get to witches. She needed to make this pain stop. With all her strength, Caroline zoomed to the other side of the room. She crashed into pottery that shattered against the ground and she stumbled and fell. Her hands were cut and Caroline cried out, but she did not know if it was for her hands or her head.

The boiling in her brain was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Caroline rose from the ground again. Her foot slid on some broken ceramic, but she trudged on. She slammed into every wall and doorway on her way to get to the other witches. When she stumbled into the foyer, she could hear the sounds of witches moving throughout the house. Their foot slammed against the ground alerting Caroline that they were in the house.

Fuck.

Klaus was not going to like this at all. From the kitchen she could hear the sound of glass breaking. Kol and Klaus were making their move. Caroline pushed herself forwards. She crawled up the stairs and saw one of the witches standing at the top of the stairs hands held out in some perverse prayer of pain. Caroline growled and let her fangs descend.

The witch had the gall to look at her and smirk. "Can't do anything without your little boy toy here can you?" the witch said with smirk. Caroline growled.

"Wanna bet?" Caroline panted.

The blood vessels bursting in her head were bursting faster than she was healing. Blood was leaking from her eyes and her ears, but Caroline could not feel the wet rivulets that raced down her face. As she could feel was this aching, burning headache. And she was going to end it.

Her thoughts were nothing more than a rush, a brief and slightly feeling that she grasped with both hands and charged with. Looking to the witch in front of her she raced up the stairs. The witch laughed and turned up the power of her aneurysm. It burned and Caroline faltered, only for a moment but she trudged on.

The air was charged as Caroline raced up the stairs to the witch, faster than her eyes could comprehend and then she reached forward. Her hands settled around the smooth skin of her neck and Caroline did not even have to think about the next action. It was with a quick twist of her wrist that the witch's neck. The crack of bone sounded out loud and clear, the clarity of the sound breaking the burning headache dissipate.

Caroline sighed as the witch fell to the ground with a thump. Now that that was over with… She turned her eyes to the sounds that she could hear coming from one of the rooms upstairs. She smiled as she made her way into one of the rooms. There she could see a couple of witches and warlocks ransacking the room. They were inelegant with their work. They kicked over tables and ripped opened drawers. Whatever it was that they were looking for it was not here.

Pity.

"How many witches do you think I can kill in a minute?" Caroline asked no one.

At the sound of her voice the witches and warlocks stopped their looting and turned to look at her. She could see it, the very moment that everyone in the room knew that they would die. And she reveled in it.

In the time that she had been away from Klaus she had learned a thing or two about herself. She had learned that she was a little unhinged (but that was obvious) and that she liked a challenge. If there was a game to be played she was going to play to win. And she was going to make sure that this was just like a game.

"Hey Alexa," Caroline said. The tall, black cylinder glowed with blue light.

"Yes?" it answered.

"Start a time for one minute."

"Counting down."

She raced forward then. Her hands went around the necks of the first two witches in front of her. All she had to do was squeeze and the bones in their necks shattered. Caroline had learned that with the right amount of pressure and with care hand placement, she could shatter the bones in the next and push them into vital arteries to ensure a slow death.

And she wanted them to feel this.

The next witches saw her coming. They raised their hands and the aneurysm returned. But Caroline had expected that much. Witches did not have many tricks. They were lick old dogs in that way. She gripped her head for a moment. It was a pause to acknowledge the pain before she twisted. She flipped over the witches with their hands raised.

Using her strength, she dragged the heel of her foot across the top of the ceiling dropping dust and debris on the two with their hands raised. That was enough to distract them. As they were wiping dust from their eyes, Caroline struck. Her hands plunged into their back and she gripped their hearts.

They were soft almost like putty in her hands and she smiled. Leaning forward, she placed her smiling face in between the gasping faces. It was with a yank that she pulled out the hearts. As they fell to the ground (dead obviously) Caroline dropped one of the hearts and brought the other to her mouth.

She took a careful bite of it and smiled at the taste. Klaus had always eaten the hearts when they were together and now Caroline knew what a delicacy that they could be. Especially witch hearts they were so full of energy. She swallowed it in three gulps and then turned to the last warlock.

He stood in front of her shaking. He looked at her as though she was an angel of death. And she was. Caroline stood before him with blood stained cheeks and hands and eyes red with blood. He had watched as she decimated his friends and knew that he was next.

So he soiled himself.

Caroline laughed. It was such a…human reaction that she had to laugh. Witches and warlocks usually had more dignity than that. They refused to go down scared. Except this warlock it seemed. Caroline smiled and walked over to him. Her steps were slow. Each foot settled on the ground firmly before she took the other step.

And then she reached him. He was shivering where he stood. There was no way that he did not soil himself again, Caroline thought. And then she leaned closer to him and her fangs sunk into his neck.

Klaus had thrown plates and pots through the window. It was just enough to catch them off guard and release the hold that the witches had on their brains. The relief as their brains stitched themselves back together was euphoric and they both let out a sigh when the pain ended. Klaus was the first to move. He jumped through the broken window and made his way towards the tree line where the witches were standing.

Using his vampire speed, he was there in a matter of moment. He moved faster than they could see. They probably only a moment, a fleeting second where they contemplated everything that they had done. Every wrong choice that had led them to this moment. And in the next second Klaus had their heads in his hands.

Kol had moved to the other side of the house, Klaus noticed when he turned. But there were still witches in his backyard. And that was something that he was going to have to deal with. He turned and looked at the witches and warlocks and held their heads in his hands. With a head in each hand he stalked over to them and swung the heads by the hair. Luckily they were both women so their hair was long.

Swinging a head in each hand, Klaus struck out, smacking one warlock with a head with all his might. The warlock went head first into the ground and Klaus kicked out his foot. His foot caught against the stomach of the man and sent him flying into a tree. Klaus heard the snap of his spine as he turned to face the other witches.

They were standing in front of his with their hands raised and they pointed at him. His clothing caught fire but that did not stop Klaus from walking towards them. His skin was burning and gods above did it burn. He had never been burnt alive before and did not intend to feel the burn of the fire for long.

Klaus tossed one of the head and the witch, dumb and naive, reached out her hands and caught it. When she saw the face of her long dead comrade she screamed. It was a loud high pitched wail that grated on Klaus's sensitive ears. Klaus smiled as the other witch turned to see what was wrong with her friend.

Caring about people was such a burden. It was something vampires did not have to deal with. At least not him. Because he knew that all his loved ones were vampires and could care for themselves. Klaus took that moment to take them in. The one witch screaming and gripping the head of her friend, while the other tried to get the head out of her hands. Foolish mortals.

Klaus zipped over and then wrapped a hand around each of their necks. The witches sputtered. The clawed at his hands and their faces grew red. With every swipe at his hands, he laughed and slowly their faces turned blue. Klaus held on even after they had stopped struggling. After strangling people so many times, one had to make sure that they were well and truly dead. You did not want to reintroduce oxygen into the body too soon and have them live. Now that would be a disaster.

He dropped them to the ground and they witches fell dead. Klaus turned back to the house and walked back inside.

The house was a mess and Klaus could hear the retreat of wheels. They witches were leaving and they were making sure that they took their surviving members with them. Klaus nodded his head and walked into the foyer. The windows were at least in tact there but the door was barely hanging on by their hinges.

Klaus sighed, but then brightened. If Caroline saw how much of a mess the house was then maybe should would stay a bit longer to make sure that everything is in tip top shape. As he was considering trashing the house more in order to make Caroline stay, Kol walked into the room and Caroline made her way down the stairs. Klaus wanted to sigh as his plan was foiled before it could even begin.

Caroline fluffed her hair in order to make sure that the curls weren't ruffled and for a moment Klaus was struck. It had been so long since he had been in a room with Caroline. Her hair was longer and the clothing that she was wearing was different. Her clothes were not the dresses and blues that he liked to see her in but it was a little more… modern.

She was wearing black pants that hugged her thighs and calves and a red shirt that complimented the strawberry highlights that she had in her hair. When did she get strawberry highlights. His fingers each to paint the picture that she made walking down the stairs.

Her hands were stained red and she ran them through her hair making her hair stained red a little bit. Kol sighed and wiped his hands on his pants.

"Damn witches," Kol said with a shake of his head.

"What do you think that they wanted?" Caroline asked.

"Knowing those witches they wanted to send a message," Kol said. "Expression witches know that we are after them and they want to send a message that they know."

Klaus shook his head. "Witches are crafty brother. They never do something without reason. They wanted something."

"I found them upstairs when all they could have done is wait outside. Scour the house and make sure that everything is where they should be," Caroline said.

The three of them walked out of the room and Klaus made his way down the stairs and into the basement. He pulled the switch of the room and looked around the room. What he expected to see was his coffins, all three of them lined up. Mother, Elijah, and Finn all there waiting for him. But the room was empty.

Klaus felt his heart jump into his throat. His hand slammed into the wall, making the house shake and crack spiderweb out around his fist. Footsteps rushed down to where he was and Kol and Caroline were by his side in moments.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked.

"They took Elijah and Finn," Klaus growled.

"Shit."

Kaia could say one thing about the new witch that they were following: she did not trust her.

She had been working with Expression for decades and had years of experience leading a coven of Expression witches. Luckily, it had gone under the radar for the twenty years she had been in charge before she had decided to strike out on her own again. When she had heard that there was a new Expression witch in the game she had been excited. The more the merrier and the faster they could raise Silas and he would bring back all that they had lost. A new witch was always something to embrace and Kaia welcomed her with open arms.

But then that new witch started to gain followers. And Kaia will be the first to tell you that having a coven is something of a gift, but then she started to gather a lot of followers a bringing attention to herself. And that was when Kaia began to distrust her. All Expression witches knew that by gaining a following you were bringing danger to yourself and others. Kol was the biggest threat but so were other witches. They did not understand why they would turn to "dark" magic when nature was all that they needed.

Those witches were week and could not see pass their noses. Silas was going to bring back every witch that had been lost to a vampire and every witch that had suffered. They would all return and then make the world theirs. Like they should have done centuries when they were more of them and the vampire scourge was still in its infancy.

Kaia trekked higher into the mountain. She could hear her fellow witches and warlocks straining with the coffins that they were carrying. She was grateful that she was an older witch and was exempt from carrying the heavy loads. This new witch, the one that everyone was following, was fond of nature. She went out of her way to make sure that they always met where there was no cell signal. Making it impossible for people to eavesdrop. Kaia did not trust her but at least she was smart.

Cresting the top of the hill, the land plateaued under their feet into a meadow. Kaia sighed as the aching in her thighs and calves lessened immediately. Kaia walked into the meadow and watched as the rest of the group ended the meadow and set down the coffins. All three of them were lined up and ready. Though one of them was sealed shut with magic she doubted that it would be a challenge for this new witch.

A branch snapped underfoot and Kaia turned away from her group to see the new witch enter the meadow. Her hair was in a short bob and dark brown hair shone as she entered. She walked in like it was a fucking Disney movie with animals at her feet and birds soaring into the air. Kaia heard the other witches and warlocks chattering amongst themselves, but she hardened her heart. There was no way that some simple display like this was going to sway her.

"You brought them?" the witch asked with a grin. Her eyes darted behind Kaia and Kaia nodded.

"They're here," Kaia said.

The witch did not acknowledge her. She walked forwards, her hands clasped in front of her. Kaia watched as the other witches and warlocks gave her a wide berth as though she was something special, something sacred. She touched the coffins and something stirred in Kaia at the soft look on her face when she did.

"You know I lost a lot of good people when we laid siege to the Originals' house," Kaia could not help but say.

The witch considered her with a tilt to her head and then shrugged her shoulders. Something in Kaia burned.

"In every cause there will be martyrs. That is the first thing that they teach you in college. They knew why they fought. And they died fighting for a great cause," the witch said.

"They died because you wanted some coffins," Kaia spat.

"I wanted leverage. Something to keep the Originals busy while we enact our real plans." The witch smiled as she raised the lid and everyone recoiled. Sitting there in the coffin was a man, finely dressed in a tailored suit and shiny shoes, but his skin was veiny and gray, the witch smiled and grabbed the dagger sticking out of his chest and pulled it out without a second thought. Kaia gaped.

"You're waking him up?" One of the witches asked. The witch smiled as she walked over to the other coffin, opened it, and did the same thing.

"It is better to keep Kol and the other distracted while we do our work, don't you think." The witch haunted over to the last coffin and smiled. She reached out a hand and she closed her eyes. The wind swelled around her, blowing grass into the eyes of all those watching. The witch reached forward and gripped the sealed lid and lifted. The hinges on the coffin squealed as they were forced open. Inside a woman rose from the cushioned seat of the coffin.

Her skin was not grey but a fresh peach color and her hair rain down her back in golden rivulets. She smiled when she saw all the witches and warlocks around her.

"My, when we spoke you did not mention that you had such a following," she said. Her accent was weird, old timey and awkward. She pronounced words like she was doing it for the first time in centuries. Maybe it had been centuries. The witch smiled and shook her head.

"You never asked. Though I assumed you were watching me from the Other Side."

The witch helped the blonde woman out of her coffin and they looked out to Kaia and the rest who were watching.

"Hello," the blonde introduced herself. "I am Esther. I am the one who made the vampires." Kaia recoiled and everyone else did too, but Esther raised a hand to stop them. "It was a mistake to make them. I see that now. So I have decided to rectify my mistake."

The other witches started talking amongst themselves but Kaia kept her eyes on the witch and Esther. Kaia could not bring herself to trust the witch, but damn if she did not make a very convincing argument.

Author's Note: Sorry for not updating sooner. Moving to New Orleans can do that to a person. On the bright side, since this story is going to be my main focus for a while y'all can enjoy this story to your content. Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Tell me what you thought in the comments. I'm always happy to hear from you guys.