Fate
Chapter Nine - I Was Drowning...
Hayley sits in the old rocking chair she'd once intended for Hope with the promises of raising her daughter in as simple a life as possible, and now her mind races over everything her auburn haired miracle baby was stumbling into. "If you sit there long enough those lines will find permanence on your forehead," Elijah states as his suited form leans against the doorway watching the hybrid. "Penny for your thoughts?"
She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair, "I'm worried about Hope."
"You're her mother, it's your job to worry about her." Elijah walks slowly into the room knowing that Hayley's troubles went beyond just worrying over her daughter. "Why don't you tell me what's really bothering you?"
Her green eyes look up to meet his for a brief moment and the all too familiar spark ignites; as it has for last 18 years every time their eyes met. "Witches, werewolves, and vampires I can prepare for. I can handle that stuff even when I don't fully understand the magic aspect of things, but this world Hope is entering into because of Caroline and Ingrid makes no sense to me. It's like there's this - this darkness, and I can't protect her from it." The worry that fills Hayley finally brims to the surface in front of Elijah as she truly allows her walls to come down for a brief moment.
The original swiftly takes her in his arms to give her whatever amount of comfort he could offer. "Hope is strong, and confident. She is in every way yours and Niklaus' daughter - she is a true Mikaelson. With that being said, there's nothing she cannot face because of this." Elijah pulls away slightly to focus on Hayley's face once more, "whatever is coming her way with Caroline and Ingrid we will all face together. There is not a doubt in my mind that these two women would abandon Hope either; they've formed a unique bond I don't quite understand myself over the past few weeks and that will not be broken easily."
"I trust you," Hayley wraps her arms around his waist and pulls him close once more. Breathing in his scent that she wishes to never forget. "Also, there's someone I invited to stay with us for a while. Don't let Klaus kill him please," Hayley backs away and quickly exits the room with a brief smile at the man she truly adored.
"What about a spell that uses an object personally connected to Caroline? We could - well you could - spell it to float and take us to wherever she is." Ingrid rubs her face attempting to force the exhaustion to fade away, but nothing seems to be working after their all-nighter trying to locate Caroline.
"Did you just happen to get that from Once Upon a Time?" Hope questions with a skeptical look on her face, "I've never heard of a spell like that before unless it was on TV."
Grimacing, "okay I probably did. It's been a long night and my severe lack of caffeine and sleep means I'm going to come up with ridiculous ideas." Ingrid once again looks to the bed nearby longingly as she wonders what real peaceful sleep would feel like right now.
Freya enters the room with two mugs in hand and places one in her nieces hands, "go get some rest Ingrid. I'll take over from here," the redhead seems hesitant to leave. "I promise to wake you the minute we find out anything major." The eldest Mikaelson nods her head towards the door and reluctantly Ingrid stands and exits the room. "You should go too Hope."
"I'm fine," she states not even looking up from the grimoire she was currently immersed in. "We need to find Caroline before something bad happens."
"Like her dying?" At this, Freya earns a glare from her niece. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little. Hope, she's not going anywhere. Just like Ingrid said before, Caroline can't die which means she's safe until we can find her and bring her back home."
In the still and quiet of the room Hope's small voice emerges that causes the hairs to stand up on Freya's neck. "There are things worse than death aunt Freya."
Sitting across from Kyros once again was the worst part of her day as of late, Caroline had already decided this the second time she encountered the man. "So what was with the heart stealing?" Kyros looks up from the meal in front of him to spot the blonde staring him down with curiosity and a fire he had once seen in Rhea. "I mean I know about the sacrifice and how you took Rhea's heart out, but what did you need my heart for?"
"That mon trésor isn't for you to know."
"Did you seriously just call me your treasure?" Her face is scrunched in a way well known to Kyros, but a look he could never quite interpret to words. "Look I don't know what sick game you're trying to play here, but let's get one thing straight. I'm being held here against my will, and you are the one doing the hostage thing - so let's not pretend like you're the good guy." Caroline's jaw is clenched as she shakes her head in disgust at the man before her, 'who was he even fooling' she wonders as she looks down once more at the chains that were constantly on her body.
"Fine," he slides his plate of food away and wipes off his chin. "I was trying to play this nicely. To give the answers you so desperately craved while also working towards my goal, but now I guess we will do it the hard way." Kyros steps across the room in one long stride and he's inches apart from Caroline. His strong fingers clench onto her chin forcing her brilliantly terrified eyes to stare into his wild glowing ones, "just remember while you scream in agony that I tried to do this kindly."
Before Caroline can blink she finds herself alone in the room once more as the door is bolted shut tightly. The chains remain on her arms as she pulls herself towards the door and looks through the small window for any sign of someone, "if you think you can get under my skin you've got another thing coming for ya psycho!" She yells hoping the creep could hear her wherever he was. With a heavy sigh she lifts up her chains and sits back down at the table, meditating to pass the time and pondering over the visions she'd seen of her doppelganger in recent days.
"You cannot just go charging out there looking for Caroline love!" Klaus chases after his daughter fervently trying to stop her from leaving the compound.
She turns to him sighing as she slaps her palms against her legs, "what am I supposed to do then? Keep doing pointless spells to find her? Plaster her face on milk cartons? I thought you of all people would be helping me find her," Hope shakes her head in disbelief at her father as he steps back pondering over her words for a brief moment.
Quickly the emotion flee's his face, "no. You're not leaving and that is final. Even if we do find Caroline you won't set foot out of this home to rescue her. That's my job, to protect you, not the other way around."
The sound of footsteps entering the compound draws the pairs attention away from their current argument. "Uh..is this a bad time? I'm looking for Hayley actually, so if you could point me in her direction that'd be great." Isaac stands there rocking back on his heels as he stares at the original hybrid and his daughter arguing.
"And just who might you be?" Klaus's tone is sinister, the typical voice he would use with anyone outside of his loved ones and friends. The very look in his blue eyes causes Isaac to take a step back, debating on whether or not to just leave now.
"His name is Isaac, and he's part of the crescent pack. I think mom said something about inviting him to stay here for a while." Hope shrugs her shoulders hoping she's selling the tale well enough for her dad to believe - if not Isaac would probably end up dead in T-10 seconds. Just like clockwork, the young werewolf is slammed against the wall held by his throat as Klaus stares him down, "dad!"
Hope calls out to her father as she centers herself and pulls Klaus from Isaac with her magic. Once the pair are separated she calls for her mom who flashes into the main area where the 3 were gathered. "That's enough Klaus, he's just a kid."
"Strangers don't come into this home without my knowledge Hayley! That's always been the rule, since before Hope was born. I figured you would be smart enough to still abide by that."
The now fuming werewolf points her finger at her baby daddy as she stares him down defiantly. "Don't bring Hope and her safety into this. I would never do anything to put her in harm's way, and if I doubted for a second that Isaac had wrong intentions I wouldn't have even invited him." After a few minutes of the pair staring each other down looking for weaknesses and more ways to argue, Klaus steps back with his hands up in a mock surrender. "Isaac grab your things, Hope will show you to a room. Feel free to get any food you want out of the kitchen." Hayley turns and smiles at the young man whose eyes were on Hope the entire time. That smile on her lips turns a different tune as she recognizes the look in his eyes...it was the same way Elijah looked at her when they first met, and he still gave her those looks every so often when she could catch him in the act.
Now her daughter appeared oblivious to the guy staring at her, but Hayley was sure she'd notice at some point. Watching as the pair trek upstairs, she turns her attention back to Klaus who stood glaring at Isaac and Hayley. "You know I should have been told about this. It doesn't matter that he isn't a threat in your eyes." He grumbles looking around for some way to wiggle a win from this argument.
"Klaus, she's my daughter too. I want what's best for her, and that includes safety." Hayley places a soft hand on his shoulder as she stares at him and then back up the stairs where she can hear Hope formally introducing herself to Isaac. "She will always come first, don't forget that about me."
It felt like hours, but it could've been minutes. Caroline sat in that same interrogation room for an eternity. Meditating, thinking, plotting, wondering what was going on outside of this hellhole. Everyone probably believes she's dead, and since Ingrid didn't know for certain if she would come back, the redhead probably didn't argue with the funeral thing. Which means Klaus and Hope, and everyone else, have probably mourned and moved on by now. 'Shut up brain,' she tells herself as she shakes her head and refocuses her thoughts.
Centering herself she tries to remember the feeling of magic flowing through her. That power she missed and craved so much, but couldn't quite tap into. From day one of being returned to her body magical cuffs had been placed on her to keep the magic at bay as well as drugs that kept her a little off balance. After a few doses she realized vervain had been mixed in with the drugs, and it kept her weak all around. 'He knows I could get out of here at my full strength.'
Her train of thought is interrupted once again at the sound of water coming from nearby. Blue orbs burst open to stare at the water that's beginning to pour out from the air vents on the bottom of the walls. Covering the floor in a thin sheen of river, and the levels were rising rapidly. "Hello! What the hell are you doing Kyros," Caroline calls out to the empty wondering if he would actually respond.
"You heard me when I left the room. I tried being nice, friendly, playing the good cop as many would say. That's really just not my style, this is the bad cop. Being uncooperative got you here Caroline, just remember you did this to yourself love." Like that his voice disappears from the room and the water pours into the room faster and faster.
Soon Caroline finds herself swimming in the water trying to keep her head above the rising levels. All the while her chains connecting her wrists together and her ankles as well, aren't helping the process of staying afloat at all. As she presses her face against the ceiling the lights go out and there's no more air to take in...just water and drowning over and over.
"Whatcha doing there?" Isaac questions as he follows Hope into the magic room where she, Freya, and Ingrid had spent the better part of their days. He takes in the sight of candles everywhere, with various dried wax stains on the floors and wood tables. The smallest hint of smoke fills the room mixed with an herb he couldn't quite identify. Bookshelves were littered with grimoires that the Mikaelson family had collected over the centuries they'd walked the earth.
Rolling her eyes at the young werewolf, Hope plops down on the floor beside a clean map and begins to do another locator spell once again. Her hopes dwindled by each chant that they wouldn't find Caroline. "Looking for a friend if you must know," she grumbles as her eyes never move from the work at hand. Ignoring Isaac as if he's not really there at all.
As the wolf grows more curious he stands leaning against a wall watching the witch in fascination, and a little bit of fear layered beneath. "If you want to say something, don't bite your tongue." Hope looks up at him wondering what was on the boys mind. She rolls her eyes once more when he remains silent.
"Is rolling your eyes a Hope Mikaelson trend thing? You've done that at least seven times since I got here - and all were directed at me. That's not counting the several ones your own parents received." Before Hope could respond he holds his hand up to silence her, "also your parents are very scary so I have no clue how you get away with even something like that at this point."
"You're babbling Isaac, and stalling to get to the point of what you were really wanting to say the minute we walked in this room." Hope simply states as she turns her attention back to the spell and grimoire nearby. Wondering if he'll speak again and praying he doesn't all at once.
"My parents were killed by witches. I was really little, and after that I was bounced around from foster home to foster home." Isaac looks down at his shoes wondering how the young witch would react. He glances up slowly as she stares at him with sympathy...something he didn't entirely expect. His mind was playing out the scenarios that she would become defensive over her kind that not all of them were bad or dangerous. He knew the truth though, and not even Hope Mikaelson could change his mind of that.
Clearing her throat after a long pause of silence she shifts her position to face Isaac better. "Witches have done terrible things I will admit to that, but so have vampires, and werewolves. There's no innocent party when it comes to the supernaturals Isaac. When I was born I was taken from my mom's arms as a bunch of witches went to sacrifice me for power. Then in that same day wolves from this very city tried to tear apart my whole family. When I wasn't even a year old my grandmother tried to kill me so her sister wouldn't come and take me away and kill all my family. My dad's awful non-biological father tried to kill my mom right before I was born because I was the daughter of an 'abomination.' So you see Isaac, everyone has a part to play but not all witches are evil, and not all of them are good either."
The pair stare at each other for quite a while before the sound of a throat clearing comes from the doorway. "Let's get back to work Hope," her aunt states as she enters the room and prepares to dig through more grimoires on what they're facing, and possibly a lead to Caroline.
That night as Caroline lays back in her cell, somewhere between death and unconsciousness, the sound of Hope's voice echoes in her mind. "Caroline is that you?" The young witch stares at the blonde vampire and her disheveled state. Taking in her wet hair, bloody spots across her arms and body, and ripped clothing. The dirt under her nails evident as some of her fingernails had broken and chipped down to nothing. "Oh my...what is happening to you." She rushes across the psychic plane to hug her friend.
"It's Kyros," she pauses at the confused look on Hopes face. "The Teacher I mean, I'm with him. He planned this whole thing, and we were just blindly following it. He knew about Tyler being in town, and sent his witch minions to trap me with him while he turned. He knew I would die before Klaus could get to me and that you wouldn't think about me coming back from this. Kyros is too smart...everything I've thought of he's already thought up and gotten three steps ahead." Caroline's panicked voice frightens Hope as the woman had never appeared so fragile but in this very moment.
"You're scared," Hope whispers looking at the wild blue eyes that scanned the area. "Listen to me Caroline, I need you to tell me everything you can about Kyros and what the place you're at looks like. We know you're alive, and we're going to find you." Stepping back from the blonde and gently holding her trembling hands, Hope gasps as flashes of terror fill her eyes.
"Hope!" The vampire screams as the younger girl collapses to the ground. Her eyes cloud over as her once green eyes turn a brilliant silver and then quickly return to normal. "Are you alright? Hope, can you hear me!?" Caroline holds her and attempts to get a response, but for several minutes nothing comes but silence and worry increasing.
"You were drowned…" Hope looks up at Caroline with sympathy as the blonde stares at her in confusion. "Don't ask me how I know, but when I touched you I had these visions. Of your death, several of your deaths actually...dating all the way back to when you were first turned." Hope slowly sits up with Caroline's help and the pair look on in confusion. "I think I have to go, I can sense someone coming to you. If I'm still here it could mean trouble for us both."
"Please don't leave me," Caroline whimpers hugging her friend and trying not to break for the first time in a long time. She was a fighter dammit, and fighters don't break down and cry at times like this. The pair hold tight for a few more moments taking in these last seconds together for what could be a while.
"I will come back, I promise. You are part of my Always and Forever now Caroline. I don't abandon family...ever." Hope grips her arms tightly hoping this will reassure her words to the blonde as her form quickly fades from the plane they were in.
Gasping awake, Caroline finds that she's once again in her cell with the chains still attached to her wrist, but now they're used to keep her held to a wall. "Good morning Caroline. Did you have a nice...nap?" Kyros stands in the shadows, half of his face illuminated by the small light creeping in through the stone walls. He's taunting her and she knows it.
"Get out," she manages to ground out through her teeth before turning to look away from him. She would rather travel with Rebekah and Stefan right now than be here, and that's saying a lot considering their ties. "GET OUT!" She screams and lunges at him when the man doesn't budge. Her chains yank her backwards roughly though, and Kyros can only laugh in response.
His laughter only angers the blonde more allowing her rage to boil once more, "such a spitfire. Just like Rhea in every way possible. Also like Rhea you're a traitorous bitch who will betray anyone for her freedom."
It's Caroline's turn to laugh now as she shakes her head at Kyros. "The only one who is a traitor here is you. I was taken against my will, tortured, and kept from my friends who mostly believe I'm dead now." Caroline rolls her eyes at him and scoffs once more.
"I want your help with something."
"I will never, ever, help you." Caroline growls at the Teacher as those words register all too familiar in her mind.
"You must realize I've been watching you and the others your whole lives, and that line was quite compelling when you spoke it to Klaus Mikaelson. But you were lying then, just as I know you're lying now." He steps further into the cell, getting more in her personal space than she'd like. "You're going to help me because I just might let you go after you do so. There's someone I need you to track down and bring to me, and you have just the...abilities I need to extract him."
I am SO sorry it took me so long to get this updated. With the storm coming through we lost power for a bit, and then classes at my college resumed like right after that and I haven't had any time to write! I missed getting to update regularly for the time, but now I'm officially back and will try to get on a schedule of updating...we'll see how that goes.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed chapter 9, and I know it was sort of a filler chapter but we needed it to progress the story without pushing the plot so far ahead. I want this story to kind of drag out...right now my goal is to get somewhere between 30-50 chapters, but that all depends on how this flows with the minor plot points I'm creating per chapter.
Poll Question: I am currently planning the ending of this story out and I have two options. I am slightly leaning towards the second one just because it's a fascinating idea I have (that I won't disclose details on). So Idea 1: close end this story when it's done with an open sort of ending that completes everything and just ends it altogether. Idea 2: somewhat cliffhanger ending but most loose ends tied up with a possible venture into a sequel that will explore these new characters further and brings in a new villain and plot as well.
I should probably stop now...I don't own TVD/TO...wish I did terribly so.
Always and Forever :)