Caroline pulled up to the boarding house and I didn't move, "You can't live in my car you know."
"I know." I shifted to get out and Caroline did the same, "You can't come in Elena has to invite you."
"She did last night. We figured you'd come here."
"I was on my way but…" I trailed off.
"I enjoyed killing the guy from the carnival, until I didn't." She tried to reassure me but it really wasn't helping. When I finally forced myself out of the car I walked inside. The first thing I noticed was how quiet it was, everyone's probably sleeping. I walked towards the basement steps and headed downstairs, "What are you doing?" Caroline asked, trailing behind me.
"Putting myself in time out. You can go, I just need to be by myself for a little bit."
"No." She said simply.
"No?"
"You may want to be by yourself, which I totally get but you don't need to be. So if you're not going to go talk to Damon then I'm coming down here with you."
"What do you want me to say Care? I rage killed three people because I thought my friend was dead, turns out she's fine," I shrugged, "oops." I stopped, staring down the stone hallway. The Salvatore's basement had three cells in it, Elijah was at the end. I pulled open the first door and walked in flopping down on the cot.
"I'm sure the giant bed upstairs is way more comfortable, the sheets have a much higher thread count at least." Damon's voice filled the room as he stepped through the doorway.
"Go away." I said flatly.
"Why?"
"Because I asked nicely." I replied, sitting up on my forearms.
"No, you didn't." He smirked and walked into the room, "Caroline you can go, I got this." She nodded and left. Damon looked down at me, "Sit up."
I grumbled as he sat down behind me, his back against the wall, pulling me towards him, so my back was against his chest. I crossed my arms, "Stop trying to make me feel better."
"I don't even know why you're upset?"
"Caroline didn't tell you?" I asked, looking up at him.
"Nope, she sent me a text that she found you and she'd bring you back here in a little bit, that was around midnight." I looked down at my shoes, which were covered in mud, flashes of what I did rushed to the front of my mind and my body tensed up. "I… I killed some campers. I was in the woods and I just needed to calm down because Bonnie." Suddenly I was angry, I jumped up, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Your reactions had to be genuine, your's and Elena's. I couldn't tell you. Klaus being in Alaric's body there was no way we could have seen that coming."
"You couldn't have said anything in the hall after? Klaus was gone by the time I saw Bonnie."
"Stop." He stood up and grabbed me by my shoulders, "If you want to be mad at me, fine but I did exactly what you asked me to do. Bonnie's not dead, but Klaus thinks she is, so she's safe."
"You could have told me." I replied quietly.
He sat back down, "Tell me about the campers."
"Why?"
"Humor me. If you don't want to talk about it you could just let me in your head."
"There was a time when I found your persistence charming." I said rolling my eyes.
"You still do." He leaned back and patted to cot. I huffed and sat down, he wrapped his arms around my waist, "Close your eyes."
I did, "I still don-"
"Shh. Please just focus so I don't have to look for it."
"Fine." Thinking about what happened wasn't hard and it only took a second to feel like I was back in the woods. All thoughts of Damon watching were gone, it was like it was actually happening all over again.
I stayed close to the trees, careful to avoid too much movement, I didn't need them to know I was there before I was ready. There were three of them, guys, just hanging out in the woods. Beer cans were littered throughout the campsite, my hunter instinct going haywire at how easy this was going to be. I smudged some dirt on my face and messed up my hair, "Can one of you guys help me?" I said in a small voice. All three of them looked up, "I got into a fight with my friend and ran off and now I'm lost, I thought I knew where I was going but I can't seem to find the trail back to the parking lot.""Lucky you found us." One of them stood up and grabbed a flashlight, "We camp here all the time, I'll show you the way back." I quietly followed behind him, he pointed his flashlight into the woods, "Follow this up about a mile and you'll get back to the lot.""Thank you." I stared right into his eyes, "Drop your flashlight, don't say a word and follow me."He did exactly what I asked with a blank expression and I led him further into the woods, "Now yell for your friends." I smirked circling around him, "HELP!" he screamed."That's enough." I just wanted to lure them into the woods, "Thanks for all your help." I smirked again. I bit down not caring about the mess and drank deeply until I felt his heart stop. I let his body fall, wiping my mouth, I could hear the other two rushing around looking for their friend.I found one, letting him catch quick glances of me rushing around him before I rushed behind him ripping out his throat. The last camper came into view as his friend hit the ground, he lifted a shotgun and I vamped out of sight. I let him freak out for a moment in the absolute silence before I popped up in front of him. He took off running deeper into the woods, I let him think he got away, I watched from a tree as he caught his breath. I jumped down in front of him and repeated the process from the second camper.With nothing left for the hunter to focus on, a sinking feeling replaced it, guilt, "Oh fuck, oh fuck, shit, shit, shit."
I sat up pulling away from Damon "Stop! That was worse than just talking about it." I stood up, crossing my arms.
"What happened next?"
"Damon!" I yelled.
"I'm not dropping this."
"I moved them back to the campsite and then Caroline showed up." I rubbed my hands over my face, "We burned them."
"Good disposal in a pinch."
"Why are you so calm about this?" I asked, confused.
"Because in our world you didn't do anything wrong. You fed and then covered your tracks. Are there less violent ways to do that? Absolutely but all you did was follow your instincts."
I reached into my dress and pulled out three IDs from my bra, handing them to him, "I stole those. I don't know why but I did." Damon let out a small laugh, "I fail to see the humor in this." I said annoyed.
"I do this." I flipped through the cards, "Stefan makes a list. I have a guy in New York who will take them off your hands or we'll get you a shoe box in the attic, put it next to mine."
"Why do you have a guy in New York?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"Because when I was there I had a friend named Will, he let me feed in his club and I would give him the IDs of the people I killed."
"Why?"
"New identities for vampires."
"Oh." I looked at the IDs in his hand, "I don't don't want them."
"Then I'll get rid of them." He stood up, slipping the cards in his pocket.
Stefan rushed in, "Have you guys seen Elena?"
"No, we haven't been here that long." Damon answered.
Stefan set off for the last cell, Damon and I following closely behind him. Stefan opened the door, revealing an empty room.
"What the fuck did she do?" I said, slapping my hand to my head.
It wasn't long until Stefan finally got a hold of Elena, I had gotten myself changed and cleaned up and was sitting on the counter drinking coffee when Stefan brought me his phone, "She wants to talk to you."
I took the phone and held it to my ear, "I'm sorry I don't speak moron."
"Just listen to me, Elijah wants to talk to both of us."
"Where?"
"I'll text you." She hung up.
"Elena?" I yelled into the phone. I jumped off the counter. When I got to the door Damon stepped in front of me, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Elijah wants to talk to both of us."
"I gathered, where?"
"I don't know Elena is supposed to text me."
"If you think I'm just going to let you walk into what's most definitely a trap, you're dead wrong."
"You can't stop me." I replied defiantly.
In a flash he grabbed my upper arms pinning me to the wall, "I'm stronger than you."
I struggled against his grip, "Damon!" My hands gripped at his wrists, "I've had a shitty enough day. Now please don't make me hurt you." Damon didn't move, "Motus." Damon flew back giving me time to rush out and into my truck. I started aimlessly driving until I finally got Elena's text telling me to meet her at the Lockwood's. I pulled up behind Elena's truck and walked up to the house.
"Good of you to join us Alexis." Elijah said as I walked inside, "Although I didn't expect you to take so long."
"I had a hard time getting out of the house." I shifted and looked at Elena, "What am I doing here?"
"When Elena informed me that Klaus has been using your history teacher's body to get around I agreed to help you and your friends kill him."
"That still doesn't explain why I'm here."
"I had to see the vampire version of Alexis Gilbert for myself. Damon is your sire I presume?"
I shook my head, "Caroline, why?"
"Those witches really do think of everything don't they?"
"What do yo-"
"It's no matter, I would assume the Martins are no longer with us."
"No they're dead." Elena replied.
"And Katarina? She would have been released from my compulsion when I died?"
"Klaus got her, we think she's dead." I answered.
"I highly doubt that. No, Klaus chased after her for 500 years, his revenge will last at least half that long." Elijah shifted his weight, "You see when I first met Katarina it was my brother's birthday party. Her resemblance to Tatia took my breath away. Of course Niklaus charmed his way into her affections, with the help of his elemental Cate he hoped to break his curse." He stopped looking between the both of us, "Yes Klaus is my brother."
"I heard you." Elena replied.
"I'm a little behind on the times but I believe the phrase you're looking for is O.M.G." (A/N: I couldn't help myself it's a great line)
Elena was still rolling this new information around in her head, I however needed answers, "Seems like someone left out a bit of information during our last conversation."
"I believe I answered your questions, the small details are of little importance."
"The most feared vampire in creation being your brother is a pretty big detail."
"Would it have changed the outcome of any of this? Would you and your friends have been less likely to sick a dagger in my heart?" He argued, Elena and I stayed silent. "As I thought."
"So there's a whole family of originals?" Elena asked.
"My father was a wealthy landowner in Eastern Europe, my mother bore 7 children."
"But vampires can't have children." I replied confused.
"We were all human once. Our story is a long one, we are the oldest vampires in the world. The original family and from us all other vampires were created. Coincidentally my mother is also to thank for the very first Elementals." He smirked in my direction, my eyes widened, "What? That's not how the story goes. It was a group of witches on the other side, they were cast out because of their alliance with vampires."
"They were cast out but not in death. You know I'm still feeling a bit dead, shall we?" He asked, motioning towards the door.
We followed him out onto the back lawn, he walked through the grass with his hands in his pockets, Elena and I following close behind, "So as you can see," he started, "Nothing can Kill and original, not fire, the sun, we can even survive a werewolf bite. The only threat to us is the wood from one tree, a tree my family and I burned long ago."
"That's where the ash for the dagger comes from?" Elena asked.
"Nature will not allow anything to be truly immortal, there must always be a balance."
"So if the sun doesn't hurt you then why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the sun and moon curse?"
Elijah smiled, "Ahh, the curse of the sun and the moon, it sounds so biblical don't you think?" The gears in my head spinning, as Elijah stopped to face us before continuing, "Klaus and Cate wrote that one, no one can resist a shaman. We planted the seed throughout the world, the best way to find something is to have everyone looking for the same thing."
"I don't understand."
"The curse is fake." I added quietly, Elijah nodded in my direction while Elena froze, "What?"
"So what cures am I breaking?" I asked.
"My mother used dark magic to turn the rest of my family into vampires. Magic she could only come by with human sacrifice, four to be exact, one for each element." His gaze locked on me, "My mother crossed a line that nature wouldn't allow without consequences, the girls when they awoke had no memories and uncontrollable magic. Cate was one of them."
"I have her journal, well one of I'm sure many."
"Then you know the relationship she had with my brother, unfortunately that relationship cost her life after Katarina escaped."
"So if there's no curse what is all this for?" Elena crossed her arms, Elijah looked at her amused, "Oh my dear there is a curse but it's only been placed on Klaus, he's been trying to break it for 1000 year and you are his only hope."
"What is his curse?"
Elijah didn't answer but pulled Elena's phone out his pocket, it had been ringing off the hook for several minutes, "Please answer your phone it won't stop it's incessant buzzing." Elena snatched the phone from him, walking off a few feet before answering.
"What happened to Cate?" I asked quietly.
"After she and Klaus failed to break the curse she was taken by a pack of werewolves, retaliation, if you will. Tore her limb from limb and sent my brother her heart in a box."
"I can't see them getting away with that."
"Oh I assure you they didn't."
"It's Jenna!" Elena called out as she walked back, "Elijah we need to go. Klaus attacked our aunt."
"Is she ok?" I asked, panicked.
"Yeah, Stefan has her back at the house."
"I'm afraid you leaving wasn't part of our deal." Elijah spoke up.
"We'll be back. I give you my word." Elena replied.
"I'm afraid that doesn't mean much."
"I'll stay." I offered, they both looked up at me, "What? He's not going to hurt me."
"Damon would kill me if I came back without you."
"No he won't, yell probably." I shrugged, "Don't worry I'm sure I'll be the focus of most of that frustration. Just go take care of Jenna."
She looked to Elijah who nodded, she didn't waste a second sprinting across the grass.
I climbed up sitting on the railing of the small bridge, "You said there were four girls but only Cate followed you guys around for 500 years, Why?"
"After my mother used their magic, two of them tried to run off. My father, not wanting word to get to the villagers about what we had done, captured and killed them. Tia the third she refused to help my mother bind the curse on Klaus so she met a similar fate. Cate however, played the part well and did everything she was asked. My mother helped her with her magic, while she worked to break the curse she helped create."
"So what is Klaus's curse?"
"That my dear you'll have to wait to find out until your sister gets back. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, now would we?" He smirked as I jumped off the railing and headed back inside.
Damon's POV
Elena had been talking to Jenna for almost an hour, Alexis wasn't with her and Elena had refused to talk to me the entire way through the house.
"I swear to God Stefan she's got ten more minutes and I'm barging in there and asking questions."
"No, you won't. You need to trust that they know what they're doing."
Elena walked out and Stefan stepped in between us, "How is she doing?"
"Better, she's in shock but I mean how exactly does someone hear what we know and isn't?" She sighed, "I tried to tell her as much as I could but I barely scratched the surface."
"Maybe if Alexis was here to help you would have been able to explain better." I snapped.
Elena ignored me and kept looking at Stefan, "I have to go." She stepped around him and brushed past me, "Wait, no." Stefan called after her, "I have to, I promised Elijah I'd be back, I can't break it." Stefan nodded in response but that answer wasn't good enough for me. As she rounded the corner towards the toor I rushed in front of her, "Where is she?" I growled.
"With Elijah, she stayed behind so I could check on Jenna."
"So she used herself as collateral?"
"Look, take it up with her, I have to go."
"I'm going with." I demanded, Stefan stepped up, "Damon, let them handle this."
I threw my hands up, "Fine you wanna let the wonder twins run the show? Be my guest but when this all comes falling down and it will, remember who said it was a bad idea."
Alexis's POV
Come on Elena, I sat in an old arm chair in one of the many sitting rooms at the Lockwood Manor, twitching my foot impatiently. Elijah walked into the room holding two glasses of amber colored liquid, handing me one. I swirled the liquor around in the glass and took a swig before looking back up at him. "Elemental's aren't immortal so someone had to turn Cate, what happened?" I asked.
"After my mother died, my siblings and I went in search of a new home. We accidentally learned what our blood could do, heal people, cure death." He paced around the room as he continued, "Cate loved Klaus, he loved her and after what happened to Tatia he decided, if you want to be with someone for eternity…"
"Then they have to live forever." I finished quietly.
"Precisely, none of us knew what would happen. She retained her powers and became the first hybrid Elemental. We quickly learned she was also a ripper, Klaus fed that need and in return she worked to help him. She forged a bond with vampires and resented the spirit witches. She ensured magic like hers would continue, communing between the planes keeping the magic replenished. The books, all her doing, when she was fighting the bloodlust, she distracted herself, finding ways to make sure individuals like us always had the upper hand."
"I'd thank her but I'm like 900% sure she's probably the one who has been pulling the puppet strings of my life."
"I'm sure, Cate was an impatient one."
"I'm back." Elena called from the foyer, Elijah watched as she walked into the room taking a seat on the antique couch. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, "What's Klaus's curse?" She asked.
"My family was very close, with the exception of Klaus and my father. Once we became vampires it was discovered that my mother had an affair that resulted in Klaus. He is from a different bloodline, when my father found out he killed my mother's lover, igniting a war between the species that rages on to this day."
"A war between the species?" Elena asked confused but for me everything finally clicked into place, "Oh. My. God."
"I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later, would you care to enlighten your sister?" Elijah replied with a smirk.
"Klaus is a werewolf and vampire. Or at least he will be once I break the curse."
"Klaus's werewolf side is dormant for now but once you complete the ceremony he will become a hybrid. If he transitions he will sire a line of hybrids, endangering not just vampires but everyone."
"Can't we just stop him with the dagger?" Elena asked.
"When a werewolf is hurt with silver he heals so you see a silver dagger would be useless."
"So how did you plan to kill him? I can't hurt him, the witches won't let me." All of this was starting to make my head spin.
"It's said that if a witch could channel enough power she would be able to kill him when he is at his weakest. Which will be right after the sacrifice."
"What if I told you we knew of a witch that did just that?" Elena said, standing.
"Then I would say our deal is back on and that I have a way to ensure your safety."
"And what exactly is that?" I asked skeptically.
"I cared for Katarina, so I asked the witches for a way to save her. They made an elixir that would bring her back, unfortunately she took matters into her own hands and we know how that ended up." He motioned towards the door, "Shall we let the Salvatores know we have renewed our deal?" We both nodded and headed outside.
As I walked towards my truck Elena stopped me, "Damon's mad, just thought you'd like a heads up."
"Awesome." I sighed.
I walked behind Elena and Elijah as they walked into the library, "Well look what the cat dragged in," Damon sneered from the armchair.
"Don't be sassy." I snapped. He ignored me looking at Elena, "So I see you invited him in."
"Elijah and I have renewed the terms of our deal." Elena replied.
"Is that so?"
"It is," Elijah started, "No harm will come to the two of you on one condition."
"And what's that?" Stefan asked, stepping closer to Damon.
"An apology."
"A what?" Damon asked, sarcastically.
"I'm sorry for the role I played in your death, I was only trying to protect Elena." Stefan replied.
I looked at Damon, his arms were crossed and he looked pissed, "Damon?" I said quietly.
"You can all go to hell." He spat before walking out of the room.
"Unfortunately that's probably the best you're going to get from him right now," Stefan walked up the steps towards Elena, "Alexis has this special way of getting him all riled up."
"I'm going to go try and fix this." I gave them one last look as I stepped out and headed upstairs. Damon was on the bed, still wearing the angry expression from downstairs, "Ok let me have it." I said closing the door, "Elena said you were pissed and judging by that display downstairs, you're still pretty upset."
He sat up, swinging his legs off the bed, he stalked towards me, "How the hell am I supposed to keep you safe when you just run headfirst into trouble all the time."
"In case you haven't realized, I'm pretty durable now. I don't need you to save me, I knew I would be fine."
"Yeah but I didn't, you wouldn't answer any of my calls, Elena said you stayed behind as collateral. You stupidly throw yourself into the line of fire all the time."
"I'm a lot of things but stupid isn't one of them. Elena was already with Elijah, she said he wanted me there, so to protect Elena, I went. You can't fault me for that and I certainly don't think it makes me stupid." I rubbed my face.
"You're not impossible to kill."
"No but it's pretty fucking difficult, you know what Damon I'm not going to keep having this same fight with you. I did what I believed the situation warranted, which you do all the time, consequences be damned. Come find me when you're done with whatever mood this is." I grabbed the doorknob
"Where are you going now?" He asked angrily.
"Home." I walked out slamming the door behind me. Damon didn't follow, I snatched up Cate's journal and a couple blood bags, throwing everything into my passenger seat, and headed to my thankfully, empty house.
Not even the porchlight was on, Jeremy was with Bonnie, Elena and Jenna were at the boarding house and God only knew where John was. I flipped through the keys on my ring to open the door but stopped when I felt like someone was behind me, I quickly shoved the key into the lock, rushing inside. I looked out the front window and didn't see anyone. I pulled out my phone to text Damon, No. You're being stupid. Sliding my phone back into my pocket, walked into the kitchen and put the blood bags away. I plopped down on the couch and opened Cate's journal.
About ten minutes had passed when Knock, knock came from the door. I zipped over to the hallway and stared down the hall, "Damon?" No answer, I stepped up to the door reminding myself that I was a powerful, immortal, witch. I flipped on the switch for the light and opened the door, looking out the porch was empty. I rolled my eyes realizing whoever what's out there was messing with me. I stepped out onto the porch closing the door behind me, "Come out, come out, wherever you are." Still nothing.
"Klaus?" I called out stepping towards the stairs, "I see the appeal to your little game, thanks to you I played my own version last night but I'm going to need you to cut the shit. I've had a long fucking day."
"Kathrine said you had sass." The man appeared on the sidewalk in front of the steps, if I hadn't known who he was before his accent would have given him away.
"I'm sure you're not here to check." I replied crossing my arms, "It's just me here, there's no one to invite you in."
He started up the steps and I held my ground, "You're not afraid of me are you?"
"The way I see it, if our mutual friends won't let me hurt you, they probably aren't going to let you hurt me. Besides, you wouldn't want all of Cate's hard work to go to waste."
"No we wouldn't." He stalked around me and I kept my eyes straight ahead, "Kathrine said you were looking for me."
"Any secrets that bitch didn't spill?"
"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"Well you compelled one to kill herself and the other drowned so, no." I snapped, Klaus stopped in front of me, "You don't need to kill my sister."
"Why would I believe you?"
"Because you don't have a reason not to. Your curse was bound with Tatia's blood but she was already dead, from blood loss. So I believe you don't actually have to drain Elena."
"The witches are going to make you do the spell whether I agree to this or not." He replied simply, he smirked thinking he had the upper hand.
"You're right they are." I stopped smirking back, "But you see Cate wasn't one to do something for nothing according to her journal." Klaus's face shifted from amused to annoyed, "She wrote a little reward for herself into the spell that breaks your curse. All those supernatural sarafices, all that power build up."
Klaus shoved me up against the door, "Spit it out witch!" He growled.
"Yeah don't keep us in suspense." Damon said from the bottom of the steps.
The cockiness I'd been sporting suddenly gone, Damon didn't need to be here, sure Klaus probably couldn't hurt me but Damon wasn't so lucky. I pushed Klaus away, "Damon you need to go."
"I'm not going anywhere." He rushed up and stood between Klaus and I.
"She's worth more to me alive at the moment your chivalry is not necessary." Klaus cut his eyes to me, "I believe you were about to threaten me."
"If you refuse to do this my way then you'll learn what it's like to be running from the big scary vampire."
"I'm an original darling you'd have no chance."
"Cate's reward was that she'd be granted all the perks of being an original. She wanted to make sure that once you were all powerful you couldn't just kill her off." I smirked, "So I guess the question is do you want to spend your time making your hybrid army or running away from me?" Klaus lunged at me again but this time he was thrown backwards off the porch, "I think it's time for you to go."
Klaus brushed himself off, "I'll see you tomorrow little witch." And he was gone.
I let out a deep breath and turned to Damon, "Do you have a fucking death wish?" He screamed.
"I didn't invite him here, he just showed up." I replied annoyed
"Is it true?"
"If he does what I ask there will only be enough power to break his curse and I'll stay just the way I am now." I opened the door motioning for Damon to follow, "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I just had this weird feeling that you needed me to be." I started picking things up in the kitchen, "We have to stop this?" I said suddenly.
"Stop what?"
"This fight, Damon I can't keep having this same argument for the next 1000 years. You have to trust that I know what I'm doing." I crossed my arms, "You wanna worry? Fine worry but stop making me feel like I'm wrong for doing the exact same thing you would do."
"I would have been a little more devious." He smirked.
"Shut up." I replied, rolling my eyes. Damon stepped forward, placing his hands on my hips, "Come home?"
"I'm pretty sure I live here."
"If you want to keep lying to yourself that's fine but that doesn't change the fact you knew what I was asking."
"Let me grab my stuff. Klaus showing up unannounced kinda gave me the heebie-jeebies anyway."
We walked into the boarding house Elena was laying against Stefan on one of the couches in the parlor, "I see you two made up." She said, not looking up from her journal.
"We're all good. How's Jenna?" I asked, dropping my bag.
"She's sleeping but she wants to talk to you in the morning, maybe you can explain some of the stuff I can't."
"Yeah sure." I nodded heading towards the hall.
"Elijah is coming by tomorrow to go over the plan with all of us." She added.
I walked up the stairs, "When all this is over if I never hear the words original vampire again it will be too soon."