Hi Friends, I know it's been like 3 months. And I am sorry for the lack of updates. I have been, to put it honestly, lazy.

I am sorry again.

As usual, I do not own anything regarding TVD, except of course Arabelle Mikaelson.

Enjoy...

Caroline was standing in a room, which she suspected to be an art room, amidst many different arts. She was looking at every piece of work, her mind reeling. How could a psychopathic family own these wonderful arts? There on a table was a parchment. Probably centuries old. The sketch was of a horse, that seemed to be running on a field. He was beautiful. She silently wondered who owned that horse.

"His name was Lysander" a voice said beside her.

Startled, she looked to her left to Klaus. "Was he yours?"

He took the parchment from her hand and ran his fingers over it. A small smile gracing his lips. "Yes. He was the last horse I ever owned"

"What happened?" Caroline asked.

"Mikael" Klaus said, his face hardened. "Mikael beheaded him right in front of my eyes when he found us in England. The last creature I ever loved"

Caroline couldn't help but feel sorry for him. No father should hunt their children. Then again, no man should be such a cruel, power hungry jerk like Klaus. And she said so.

Klaus looked at her, his eyes storming.

"What? Have nothing to say? You are not only a power hungry ass, but also a sadist. You rob people of their freedom" Caroline snapped.

"I am nothing like you paint me to be, sweetheart and you know it" Klaus growled.

"Do I? You don't understand, do you? It's a waste to try explaining something they don't want to hear" Caroline unclasped the bracelet he presented and threw it among the parchments, "I only came here to return that. Bye" She said and turned around and left a stunned Klaus behind, all the while knowing she just said and did those things to guard herself.

The moment she stepped outside the room she was pinned against the wall by a growling Arabelle, "Listen Forbes, the only reason you are going to walk out of this party unscathed was for some twisted reason, my brother likes you. Next time think at least a dozen times before you throw those words at him. You have no bloody idea what he went through. So not only you, but also warn you friends, I swear one more wrong word about my family none of you lot will be alive to see the next sunrise. And also stay away from my niece. Are we clear?"

Caroline, who all the while tried to tug herself free choked out her response, "Crystal"

Arabelle released her.

Caroline stood there struggling with her bruised neck.

"Now get out of my sight" Arabelle snapped.

Caroline left the place without a backward glance.

Arabelle was furious. No, beyond furious. How dare she! How dare she use such words toward her brother. Actually her internal volcanoes have been erupting since the dance in the ballroom. The moment she saw the Gilbert doppelganger in Damon's arms she only saw red. Sure, she tried to be indifferent, but for the first time in a millennia she experienced jealousy.

That was the reason she slipped out of the party and went to her brother's studio. That was one of the few places she found peace. Her brother's paintings have a wonderful way soothing her. And that proved to be another mistake.

The Forbes girl had the nerve to say those words to her brother. Had it been anyone else, death was warranted. But the girl happened to be Niklaus' mate. That made it more complicated that it should be. Not everyone knows the real Niklaus, except for the three people. And she happened to be one of them.

Arabelle closed her eyes and willed herself to block all the unfortunate things that her brother endured. But she couldn't. The wretched heightened emotions made her so bloody emotional, that she actually started tearing up.

"Well, well, well," she heard a familiar voice say from behind her, "What are you doing here all alone?"

She turned around to see Damon and the only thing that came to her mind was her mate dancing with the doppelganger. All her forgotten anger came back afresh. He was hers and she would make sure that he gets the message.

And with that single thought in mind, she crashed her lips to his.

Arabelle opened her eyes only to see that a heavy weight was on her and soft hair caressing her chin. She smiled as what happened last night came to her mind. She did it. She finally gave herself, her virginity that she has been saving for a thousand years to the one man to whom it belonged. But she had to get out of the bed, so she patted on his shoulder, "Damon" she said softly.

He groaned and rolled over, but his eyes remained shut. She rose with her right elbow planted on the bed for support and combed the unruly raven hair that fell over his forehead. With a little smile she bent over him and kissed his forehead.

She fished out her nightgown that was somewhere beneath her ball gown and his suit. With her nightgown cowering her perfectly she started toward her bathroom only to be interrupted by her mobile phone. Elijah's name flashed on the screen. She looked over at the vampire who was still sleeping, oblivious to the shrill ring of her phone.

She dashed to the bathroom with her mobile afraid that the phone might disturb her mate from his slumber. She pressed answer button.

"What, Elijah?" she snapped at her brother.

"Sister, we have a problem" he said. His voice not betraying any emotion.

"What is it?" she asked. Her brows creased in a frown.

"I am afraid that our mother is conspiring against us" he said. This time, his voice hinted the disbelief and anger he felt. "Last night, after the dance, Elena had a private meeting with our mother. When I asked her about it after the toast, she lied to me. But I didn't press her. So I went to the Gilbert house a couple of hours ago and confronted Elena. She said something rather disturbing."

"What did she say?" she asked, she already had a bad feeling about this.

"Our mother linked us, all six of us, and she is going to conduct a ritual tonight to kill us." He said.

Arabelle gasped.

"Arabelle it's not all. She has recruited Bonnie and her mother to help her" Elijah said.

Arabelle mastered her mind and heart. "Elijah, come back here. We are having a very urgent family meeting"

Without so much as a goodbye, she cut the call and threw open the bathroom door. Damon was sitting on her bed with a big grin which he tried to hide from her. Everything her brother said came back to her mind. And she felt betrayed.

With her blue eyes full of tears she neared him, "Did you have a hand in this?"

Damon frowned, "Did I have a hand in what?"

Arabelle's breathe hitched, "Damon, please. Did you have a hand in what your precious doppelganger did last night?"

Damon's frown deepened. "What did she do?"

"Please don't lie to me Damon." Arabelle all but pleaded with her tears running freely down her cheeks. "Please"

"Arabelle" Damon said as he tried to hold her hand, "Whatever Elena did, I didn't partake it. I swear"

Arabelle shrugged his hand and turned her back to him. "Get out" she whispered.

She could hear the shuffling and figured he was getting dressed. With his vampire speed her sped in front of her and urged her to meet his eyes, "I know you still don't believe me. But I indent to prove to you that I didn't do anything. I won't betray you, Arabelle. Especially not after last night."

He then pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was not only full of passion but of promise as well. With a last concerned look he zoomed out of the room and of the property.

Damon entered the Salvatore boarding house with a very bad gut feeling, Arabelle's words still ringing in his ears. He zoomed straight to Stefan's room. As he predicted, Stefan was still sleeping. Damon moved straight to the windows and moved the drapes aside, allowing the sunlight to fall straight across the room, over his brother's bed.

Stefan groaned and sat against the headboard. "Where were you last night?" he asked the moment he saw Damon.

"None of your business." Damon snapped, "What did Elena do?"

"What are you talking about?" Stefan asked, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Listen little brother. Dear doppelganger did something last night that thoroughly pissed off Ar—" Damon cleared his throat, "Ah, the Originals."

Stefan sat up straighter. "What did she do now?"

"I don't know, Stefan" Damon groaned. "Get dressed. We are going to meet the Katherine look-alike"

With that he went out the room, down the stairs, straight towards the bar, to drown in Bourbon.

Niklaus was pacing the large ballroom ever since Elijah delivered the bad news, trying to hold himself from searching his mother and killing her once again. The large ballroom was filled with his family members. Finn and Sage, Elijah and Katerina, Rebekah, Kol, Nadia, Arabelle, all looking at him with various degrees of concern.

Niklaus sighed, "Please" he groaned, "Can't I just go and kill her?"

Arabelle rolled her eyes. Nadia, Katerina and Sage looked like they were trying hard not to laugh. Rebekah looked bewildered. Kol looked like he might help Niklaus. Finn was concerned. And Elijah was as usual with his mask on.

"Niklaus, we talked about this" Elijah said, "We can't jump without proper planning"

Arabelle cleared her throat. Everyone in the room looked at her. The look on her face gave Niklaus pause. Whatever she was going to say, he had a feeling that he won't like it a bit.

"I have a plan" Arabelle said. And the next moment she looked at him.

Now he understood what she was trying to say. No way. He was not going to let her do that. He opened his mouth to tell her just that but Arabelle beat him.

"Niklaus I am stronger than I was thousand years ago. I won't pass out like I did the first time. I have been practicing for a thousand years now. And I am not dead as you can see with your own two eyes. So, don't even think about protesting. I won't hesitate to hurt you" she glared at him that actually made Niklaus afraid and that says something.

The others were looking at them with open curiosity not knowing what exactly they were talking about.

Arabelle took a deep breath and said, "I am a Hybrid"

All except two pairs of eyes in the room widened.

"I am not just an Original Vampire. Also a Witch. I am an Original Vampire/Witch Hybrid" Arabelle said.

"Impossible" Elijah said.

"Ayanna passed her powers to me on her death bed. The Spirits then gave my powers back to me later." Arabelle said. Then to prove her point, Arabelle snapped her fingers and all the lights in the house turned off. With another snap, the lights turned on.

He knew that his siblings were gaping at her, so Niklaus tried to bring the matter at hand. They have plenty of time to talk about it later. "What do we do now, Belle?"

"First, I am going to unlink us" Arabelle said with a smirk, "And then I am going to crash mother's party"

Stefan knocked the door of the Gilbert house, while Damon stood behind him still fuming. He again wondered what had Elena done that made Damon look like he wanted to slaughter the entire State. He didn't miss that fact that his brother was absent the whole night. He also didn't miss the fact that his brother smelled like sex this morning and also that there was a certain glow about him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door that was opened by none other than Elena, herself. Before he could do or say anything, Damon practically threw him away and the next thing he knew was that Damon had Elena pinned to the wall with his hand squeezing her throat. Alaric was trying very hard to get Damon off of Elena, but his human strength was nothing compared to Damon's vampire strength.

Stefan rushed to his side and tried to help Alaric. But Stefan soon learned that even their combined strength was not enough. Fortunately for them Caroline chose that moment to enter the room. With all their combined strength they managed to get Damon off of Elena.

Once released, Elena coughed uncontrollably for almost five minutes. Three voices boomed in the room.

"What the hell?"

"What is your problem?"

"Damon, calm down"

Among all those Damon only responded to Stefan's words. "Calm down?" he snapped, "Did she think that we are idiots?"

"Damon" Stefan said, "Let's ask what she did" he tried to reason.

"Alright, Gilbert. What did you do?" Damon addressed Elena.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything." Elena said.

For some reason Stefan couldn't believe those words. "Elena, you did something last night against the Originals. What is it?"

"Stefan, I swear I don't know what you are talking about" Elena pleaded.

But for some reason she reminded him of Katherine. She was lying. That much was obvious. "Elena, we all know you are lying. Just tell the truth. Or even I can't restrain Damon from doing something to you"

Elena sighed. "Okay. I helped Ester. She mixed a drop of my blood in the champagne last night. When the Originals drank the champagne, Ester's magic bonded them. She's gonna do something tonight to kill them"

Damon growled. "Why, Elena?"

"Damon, can't you see what I am trying to do? If Ester succeeds, they'd be out of our lives for good." Elena pleaded.

Damon's emotionless mask was on. He looked straight at her, "You think they are emotionless selfish monsters who kill people. You are no better than them. To think that Stefan and I made a deal to keep a selfish person like you safe, I must be out of my mind." Damon said.

A wave of hurt flashed through her eyes.

"Don't even think that I will help you." With that Damon left the Gilbert house.

To say that Stefan was shocked would be an understatement. He shook his head in disbelief and left the house with Caroline behind him.

Kol watched his sister silently as she mumbled the Latin words that would unlink them. He always knew that there was something different about Arabelle, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Now he knew what it was.

Unlike others, he could understand why Ayanna chose Arabelle. She has always been the most responsible one among the four witches and warlocks in the family. He also could remember that among them all, Arabelle was the one who missed Henrik the most after his death. Not only that they were twins, they shared their magic as well. He also could remember how much Henrik's death affected her and her magic.

There must have been a very serious reason for Arabelle's magic. After all, she was the only one who was a Vampire/Witch Hybrid. He vowed then that he would help his little sister in anything. She has been carrying around this burden alone for ten decades. Granted, Nik was there. But they all knew Belle very well; she wouldn't have let anyone in her planning. Not even Nik.

Kol saw that the Belle was done. "All done?" he asked.

Belle looked at him and smiled, "Done. We are unlinked"

"Now what?" Kol asked.

Belle smirked, "Now we invite some people to mother's party."

Caroline was wandering around the woods. She has some mixed emotions running through her.

When she saw that Damon had Elena pinned against the wall and choking her, she did the only thing any friend would do and helped Stefan and Alaric. But now she herself wanted to strangle her. She doesn't understand why Elena did this. She furthermore didn't understand why Damon was defending the Originals.

Above all else, she couldn't understand why she felt like she might lose everything in her life if something happened to the Hybrid. She must be happy that the Originals won't be there to terrorize the world after tonight, but for some unknown reasons that fact made her want to cry.

As she was walking across the woods with these thoughts, she came across one raven haired vampire sitting alone under a tree. She walked toward him and sat beside him.

"Hey" Caroline said.

"I was happy, Caroline" Damon said. If not for her vampire hearing, she would not have heard it, for it was just above a whisper. "I was happy for the first time in my life and it was ruined in the form of Elena"

Caroline chose not to question him. It was the first time Damon has ever talked to her civilly. So she chose to remain silent.

"Now she hates me" Damon said sadly.

She? Was he talking about Elena?

"All because of Elena" Damon said with a hint of anger.

Not Elena. So who was that she?

That night Damon, Stefan and Caroline went to the place where the ritual was to be conducted by the Original Witch. And that place happened to be the clearing near the Old Witch mansion.

What awaited them there was something they never foresaw.

There right behind Ester was Bonnie and Abby holding hands and helping the Original Witch.

Wonderful, Damon thought.

Arabelle and her siblings entered the clearing where her dear mother was performing the ritual to kill them all. There in the middle of a big circle was their mother with Bonnie Bennett and Abby Bennett with six torches around them. Arabelle nodded to the others to surround the three witches.

To Arabelle's right was Niklaus and left was Kol. Nadia was to the other side of Niklaus, beside Nadia was Elijah and then Katerina. Next to Katerina was Rebekah, then Sage, With Finn stood between Sage and Kol.

"Hello Mother" Arabelle greeted her now glaring mother.

"Arabelle" Ester said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I guess I must be the one to ask you that. Oh wait, I know what you are doing" Arabelle said innocently.

"I am sorry, my children" he mother addressed them all. "I have to do this. For years the Spirits made me feel every kill you made. I have to make you all stop this."

"No need for your explanations, Mother" Niklaus said.

"Don't stop on our account" Elijah said.

"Please, do continue" Kol said mockingly.

"Oh, wait" Arabelle said, "There are some people here to meet you, Mother"

Ester looked at her like she grew two heads suddenly.

Just then about a hundred women stood around them. Ester's eyes were fixated behind Arabelle. Even her siblings were looking around them uncomfortably.

"Hello, Ester" a very angelic voice said right behind Arabelle. A moment later Ayanna was standing between her and Kol. "We are here to escort you back to the other side"

"What?" Ester said, "Ayanna, I have to do this. You know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have created them. They are abomination to the nature"

"Who told you this, Ester?" Ayanna asked, "The Rocques?"

Ester nodded.

Ayanna shook her head, "Ester, don't you know that the Rocques are the most vicious black Witches and Warlocks?"

Ester looked at her, shocked.

"You didn't do a mistake when you created them. But what you are doing now, is the mistake" Ayanna said.

"But why was I never allowed to enter the Bennetts lair? I thought you were all angry that I made my children monsters" Ester said.

"You were not allowed to enter the Bennetts lair," Quetsiyah said, as she came to stand between Arabelle and Niklaus, "because of the curse you placed on Niklaus."

All her siblings were now openly gaping at the woman beside Arabelle.

"Niklaus was not supposed to be cursed. He was not supposed to wait every 500 years to break it. He was supposed to build an army freely. He was not supposed to depend on the doppelganger to create hybrids. He was not supposed to spend thousand years obsessed over the curse." Quetsiyah said.

"If you let them go now and promise never to hurt them," Alkmene said, "We are ready to welcome you to our home"

While the Original Witch was having a conversation with the woman standing between Kol and Arabelle, Bonnie looked straight ahead, past Arabelle standing was none other than Sheila Bennett herself. The old woman had her eyes fixated on her, with a hint of disappointment. She could hear her mother release a sigh beside her.

The Original Witch just agreed to whatever the strange woman asked and they were ready to go. But her grandmother went near the woman standing between Klaus and Arabelle. She was talking in hushed tone, but was given a nod.

Sheila moved straight toward Bonnie, "Bonnie" she said.

Bonnie couldn't help herself anymore. She flung her hands around her grandmother and cried, "Grams" she managed to say in between her cries.

"Listen child" Sheila said as she pulled back to look into her granddaughter's eyes, "I was pulled from your side before I could tell you a many things"

"Grams, what are you saying?" Bonnie asked.

"This has to stop, Bonnie" Sheila said in her reprimanding tone, "Your association with the Gilbert girl is what making you do things that a Bennett shouldn't do."

"But, Grams—" Bonnie started.

"No Bonnie. You jeopardized what the Bennett bloodline has been keeping safe for two millennia. Helping her has what forced your mother to leave you. Helping her has what made me die. Helping her will cost you everything. Even your life" Sheila said.

"I have to, Grams. She is my friend. I will give anything to keep my friend safe. Even if it means to give her my life." Bonnie said.

"There are more important things in this world than friendship, Bonnie. Our ancestors are very disappointed with you. I hope you learn that the responsibility of keeping the world safe lies in your hands. Your association with the doppelganger nearly made you unbalance the nature" Sheila said. "If you want to know how much responsibility you hold as a Bennett, I suggest you talk to Arabelle. Even Abby doesn't know as much as she does."

Bonnie looked at her perplexed. Did she just hear her right? But before she could think about that her Grams moved toward her mother.

"I am so proud of you. I know you didn't have a choice when Bonnie approached you, but you tried to talk to her" Sheila said to her daughter, "That's more than I expected. Take care Abby"

With that her Grams moved toward the group of strange women with strange cloths. All pairs of eyes were on Bonnie, all those strange women were staring at her like they expect her to do something. And just like that, they vanished. So did the Original Witch.

Hope you liked it. Please leave your comments.

Next Chapter: Lots of confrontations and discussions. Secrets are to be revealed...

Until then...