Fate
Chapter Eleven - Loving Any of Us is a Death Sentence
They say right before death a person tends to see flashes of their life just as the light fades from them. Caroline had a much different experience, and she could very well say her track record with death was growing dramatically over the last several years. The one true time she'd felt the sensations similar to what everyone describes death to be as was when Katherine first killed her in that hospital bed at the ripe age of 17. To this day she questions why it had to be 17 years old...why not 18 or even 20? Apparently she was to be stuck at that point forever, but oh well it is what it is and now she had to face the consequences of immortality.
Now she lays still, her skin greyed over for the hundredth time (not really, but she had lost count of how many times she'd actually died over the years) and the van she was in jostled her body around as it hit bumps and cracks in the road. If she were alive the blonde would probably be complaining about the impending neckache, but then again she would also be complaining about getting a stake through her heart too. Slowly but surely, Caroline feels herself become aware of the cool metal floor beneath her ripped clothes and her heart begins to pump what little blood she had in her system.
It was a miracle in itself Kyros hadn't decided to desiccate her at this point. She guessed he liked actual torture compared to watching her rot, but either way she was in a lose/lose situation. 'Not for long,' she thought to herself as the van came to a slow halt. Caroline opens her eyes slowly trying not to gasp for air that had been deprived of her for quite a while at this point.
Listening closely she hears Kyros and someone else climb out of the van and shut the door behind them. The spell she did previously to locate this mystery dude was set to travel wherever he went so they could find him at any time...which sucked for him but for her it meant freedom was close. The blonde slowly sits up and crawls towards the back doors of the van, and she looks down at the sight of her missing daylight ring. "Fantastic," she mutters under her breath before quietly pushing the doors open.
As she steps out of the van as stealthy as possible she notices the sun setting in the distance, 'perfect.' Remorse momentarily fills her as she spots a woman walking to her car not too far in the distance and Caroline flashes to the stranger as fast as her blood deprived body would allow. "You're not afraid, you won't run or scream. You are going to give me your keys wallet and forget you ever saw me." Caroline compels the woman in a monotone voice before letting her fangs drop and sinking them deep into the still figures jugular.
The warm liquid soothes the blonde vampire as she feels the strength returning to her. When she'd had her fill she pulls away from the woman knowing she could still live if someone found her, but that would leave a trail of possibilities for Kyros to find her. "I'm sorry, but it has to be this way;" Caroline states as she quickly snaps the woman's neck and takes her car keys and wallet with her.
She clicks the unlock on the keys as the chirp of the car sounds in the distance and she quickly moves towards it. Caroline knew if she didn't get out of here fast Kyros would have his goonies all over this place searching for her. Lucky for her the car she'd just stolen was a fast one and she quickly cranked it up and drove out of the parking garage she was in like a mad woman. As the car entered the main streets with the setting sun she noticed the familiar views, "that lunatic brought me back to New Orleans."
Glancing up at the street sign she notices she's not too far from the French Quarter…"well no time like the present to rise from the dead." Caroline easily navigates the streets and heads towards the one place she knew she would find safety...that just so happened to be the home of Klaus Mikaelson though.
As the sun was setting in the sky, Hope drove further and further out of the city towards northern Louisiana. The farther away she got from New Orleans the more she felt like she shouldn't have come alone, but she also knew no one besides her dad and Ingrid were truly interested in rescuing Caroline. Freya was invested in finding her, but she would bench Hope to wait at home until they returned or didn't.
So instead Hope decided to copy the spell she'd done with her aunt Freya and track the blonde vampire herself. This way she could ensure that Caroline was safely returned to them. As she looks down at the map where it had circled an area several hours outside of New Orleans the Mikaelson knew she didn't have much longer to go. When she'd finally pulled up as close as she was willing to get to the destination she got out of her car keeping her keys close at hand as well as a few weapons she'd learned to use over the years from her now Uncle Stefan.
The short trek into the wooded area wasn't too difficult since she'd prepared with walking shoes, but Hope wasn't expecting to see another flashlight not far off in the distance. Slowly the witch walks towards the light attempting to hide from the view of the person, "Hope!?"
"Aunt Freya? What are you doing out here," she questions as she quickly turns her own flashlight back on and attempts to keep her voice at a whisper.
The blonde Mikaelson stares at her niece in astonishment, "the better question is what are you doing here? You came by yourself too which tells my Niklaus has no clue where you are." Freya stares down the younger woman wondering if she should call her brother then and there to alert him of his scheming daughter.
"Please aunt Freya don't tell my parents. We're already so close to Caroline and if we leave now we might not ever get this close again. We need to save her while we can and work together on it. Dad can yell at us for poor decisions later," Hope pleads with her aunt that the pair could join forces and rescue their blonde friend then and there.
Against the older woman's better judgment she sighs and says, "alright. Let's go, but the minute something goes south we're leaving with or without Caroline."
Hope nods enthusiastically at her aunt, "affirmative. Whatever you say," the excitement builds in her that she'd finally get to see Caroline after so many weeks and a handful of those spent believing she was dead. Now she was going to reunite with the one person she seemed to have a link to that wasn't family.
As the pair near a single cabin in the woods they slow their steps. Neither of them knew what was behind the door and they weren't going to go in blind either. After scoping the place out thoroughly Hope and Freya had come to the conclusion that a majority of the guards here had left temporarily. Though they didn't know why, they were grateful for this little window to sneak in. Freya couldn't help this sinking pit in her stomach though, and still she pushed forward with her niece into unknown territory.
Late in the evening Brett walks towards his parked car in the crescent city. His eyes constantly drift towards his phone throughout the night as disappointment fills him wondering where Freya was, or what she was doing. Usually on a Friday night they would meet up at a bar and talk while drinking before retreating to either his place or hers. Tonight was different though, tonight there was silence - even Josh who worked/owned the bar they frequented hadn't seen her all day.
Suspicion and worry ran through him at a rate he hadn't experienced in years, but he quickly brushed it off knowing she would call soon or tomorrow. 'We aren't together anyways,' Brett kept telling himself as concern attempted to take over; but something wasn't right. Even the air felt like there was a shift in it, and the young man couldn't place a finger on what it was.
As he clicked his keys and unlocked his car not too far away from
him, a searing pain courses through his body. Clutching his head, Brett drops his keys to the paved ground and squints his eyes shut hoping to shove the pain out and press forward to his car which was a mere 10 feet away. But it was too much, and he felt the crunch of his knees hitting pavement before the pain stopped briefly.
"She's gone," a panicked voice stated from nearby. His eyes couldn't see what they were referring to though. "Should we go after her Teacher?"
"No let her go, she'll be back. Once she learns we have something she wants...or someone I should say." Another voice chuckled darkly and without seeing a face or hearing clearly through his slightly ringing ears, Brett feels a fear he hadn't known. "Kill him and load him up in the van. Let's get back to greet our new houseguests."
Just like that the world goes dark as a sickening crack echoes through the parking garage. A neck snapped, a body dropped to the ground and dragged towards a van that sped off towards the unknown.
Klaus Mikaelson spent most of his existence bringing fear to others, not feeling it himself. Yet somehow over the last few decades he has been surrounded, enveloped, and assaulted by that feeling of fear too often to count. Being on the receiving end of danger and watching people he cared for that were more disposable than his immortal siblings was something he never wanted to experience.
So now he stands in the compound pacing the floors angrily. Hayley sitting on the couch nearby dialing Freya and Hope's phones every minute. The panic rose as each time they went straight to voicemail, and no one could give them a clear answer as to where they were. Even Ingrid who knew nothing of how to truly help was out patrolling the streets with Kol in search of the two Mikaelson ladies.
Stefan and Rebekah had left the compound not long ago to search the bayou and ask around the werewolf territory if they'd seen any sign of the wolf princess. At each shake of a head, no answer to a phone call, and dead end their frustration grew higher. The littlest wolf of their family pack was missing, and the only person who could possibly be with her was also missing.
"Hayley," a voice calls out from the entrance to the compound. The Mikaelsons that remained in the area came rushing towards the sound as Isaac stumbled into the home. Though there were no injuries on him, the effects of some type of drug were still working through his system.
The crescent alpha steps forward looking over the young wolf a few times, "Isaac are you alright?" Hayley's concern is clear as the worry of what could have happened to her daughter weighs heavier and heavier.
"Hope's in trouble," he breathes out and before he could get any further Klaus had him pinned to the wall.
His eyes turned their golden shade as veins protruded from the skin beneath his eyes. "Where is she!?" Klaus screams as his grip tightens ever so slightly on Isaac's neck.
"Klaus," the two vampires left in the room yell as they attempt to separate the hybrid from the young werewolf. Hayley manages to break a few of the originals fingers and release Isaac, while Elijah pulls his brother back from the two wolves. "Now tell me what happened, we need to know everything Isaac."
The young man sighs fearing what could come from telling them everything, but that fear was overcome by the need to find Hope and protect her. "Well in that case I need to start from before I met you...when the voice first came to me."
"The voice? What voice are you referring to?" Elijah questions as he stands behind his brother who was being held in a chair by a firm hand on the shoulder.
"When I was a kid around 7 or so this voice started talking to me. First it was just in my dreams where it could reach me, and I remember being so afraid to go to sleep because of the things it told me. About reincarnates, prophecies, doppelgangers, and so much death. Too much for me to even understand." He pauses looking up at the three people staring at him waiting patiently (not so patiently in Klaus's perspective) for the story to continue. "Eventually the strength of this voice grew and it could reach me at any time of the day it wanted to, and this caused for my family to find out. I became this isolated kid that didn't have friends at school because I heard voices, and my parents who were werewolves didn't understand it either. One night I heard them talking about their plans to see a witch about the voice and find out how to break the link it had to me."
Isaac pauses remembering the details of his dark childhood so clearly, "they didn't survive the night. I woke up surrounded by flames and smoke. I couldn't even save them," he whispered as the deep grief and regret he felt for surviving filled him to the point it was visible to the others in the room. "My little sister and my parents died in a 'tragic accident' that night, at least that's what the police department ruled it as. Afterwards I skipped town and travelled with random werewolf packs until I was old enough to be on my own. That's how I ended up in New Orleans a few years ago. The voice always followed me though, and that's why I stayed away from the pack - and it knew about my special gifts...something I'd tried to keep hidden for so long."
"What gifts Isaac?" Hayley states whilst placing a comforting hand on his arm in attempt to ease the troubled young man before her.
"When I was a kid there was this thing where my hands glowed bright blue every so often, and I'm not sure why it happened - to this day I don't know what it was. What I do know is that when I triggered my curse I didn't turn like the rest of my pack. There was no traumatic, painful, bone-breaking experience. Just a simple smooth shift between man and wolf, and I stayed a wolf even after the full moon had disappeared."
Hayley watches him connecting the dots as he spoke, "you could turn at will."
"That's impossible though, you'd have to be a hybrid to do that which he is clearly not." Klaus states looking between Hayley and the wolf he'd clearly like to rip apart at the moment. "Sob story and all I don't get how this helps tell us where Hope is. I suggest if you want to keep your head attached to your body you should probably start giving meaningful information mate."
The young shapeshifter begins to sweat a little as Klaus glares at him darkly. "A few hours ago Hope and I left here after Freya brought her man-friend over. We went to Lafayette cemetery where she started doing some type of spell to find a vampire friend of hers. Well it worked somehow after a while and we got a location, except she was ranting about how I couldn't go with her. Before I could even argue she blew this dust or something in my face and everything just went black."
"Did she say where she was going? Or did you get a look at the map she was using?" Hayley urges him hoping they could get on her trail before she was too far away to be helped.
"No she didn't say, but I managed to snap a picture of the map just before I left the cemetery...and the map burst into flames too. It says she's somewhere near Natchez, but we need to go now. I think the voice I've been hearing has something to do with this and it's capable of killing my family." Isaac pulls out his phone showing the aged map that had a wooded area circled.
"Let's move out, we can't wait any longer." Klaus pushes his brothers hand off his shoulder and charges towards the garage where their many cars sat waiting to be used. Of course the hybrid immediately went towards the fastest one he owned that could take the 4 of them a couple hours away in less time than humanly possible. "If anyone here has a problem with me killing anybody who gets in the way of me and my daughter please exit now," Klaus turns to look at Isaac who merely buckles his seatbelt and lifts his shirt slightly to show off the gun he had hidden in his jeans. "Well then, let's get to it shall we."
Just like that the four of them sped away from New Orleans towards where Hope and Freya would be. What they didn't know, what no one knew was everyone was falling into Kyros' trap; and Caroline was driving through the French Quarter towards the Mikaelson home that was now empty.
Whatttt? 2 chapters in one week? I must be on top of things right now. Actually I just really wanted to write this and post it asap before my crazy weekend got here. So here is chapter 11 I hope you enjoyed it and there is more to come. Brace yourselves for a wild ride that's about to take off.
As usual I don't own TVD/TO, and please comment, favorite, and follow for updates.
Always and Forever loves.