Chapter 002

The Right Thing

Friday, December 03, 2010, just after 7:50 a.m.

Outside the Salvatore Boarding House

When we get to the Salvatore's house, my shoulders relax, and I let out a deep breath because we discover that no one except Damon is inside, and Kol silently prays, 'Thank you, God. Please continue helping Your warrior and son carry out his plans and save Your young witch.'

The Mikaelsons were Goddess worshipers when they were alive, but in the late 17th and early 18th century, they converted to Christianity. I, myself, was born Christian and raised to believe that our witch abilities, our ability to tap into this power, is God-given and meant to allow us to do His good works while in this life.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus wants Kol to help my granddaughter get over her dark magick addiction and assist her in regaining her natural powers.

Although, that's only part of the reason Kol is going to help her. The other part is the deep attraction and connection he's felt towards her since the first time he laid eyes on her the night Esther tried to kill all her children. Well actually, he had seen her from The Otherside too and was quite taken with her, but I'm not sure he felt the connection to my baby girl then that he did the moment he saw her at the witches' house.

Kol's leaning against the brick wall of the boarding house playing with his phone and, among other things, checking today's weather forecast, when Bonnie pulls into the driveway in her little white car five minutes later. I thought about spending the morning silently holding vigil over my granddaughter, but I thought I'd learn more by staying with Kol. I'm not sure if that proved to be true or not, but it certainly was interesting.

Hmm, it's three minutes to eight, excellent. Bonnie obviously took Kol seriously when he told her not to keep him waiting. That will bode well for both of them.

Finn, Freya, and I all chuckle because she immediately notices what Kol is wearing while he leans against the brick wall. She thinks, 'Hello, he's wearing that green jacket he wore at the college the other day. God, could he possibly be any hotter?" She silently giggles and tells herself, 'Yeah the answer to that is probably not. The man is sex on two legs.'

She parks the car and gets out before locking her doors. My eyebrow raises at that. Does she think someone is going to sneak into the Salvatore's driveway out here in the middle of nowhere and steal her car?

Kol is smiling at her while she walks towards him. She almost smiles back but reminds herself that he's the bad guy, so she really shouldn't be smiling at him. Each step she takes towards him causes the pain in her bones from the spell Abby's friends did last night to radiate throughout her body.

Kol's smile turns into a frown a moment later while she continues walking towards him. He clearly recognizes what her squinting means. He files the fact that she's in pain into the back of his mind as something to get to the bottom of later. Although, he thinks that the fact that the witches obviously performed the spell removing her addiction to the dark magick is the likely culprit and that she probably has a headache and a full body ache because of the spell the witches performed on her last night.

Everyone he's ever known who had that spell performed on them complained the next day of the terrible pain. The fact that she still managed to get here three minutes early says a lot about her and what she's willing to work through to still be efficient and on time.

I nod but tell Finn and Freya, "My baby girl is tough, though your brother is going to need to protect her if he genuinely wants her in his life. Things are going on that neither of you knows of currently. Things that contributed to her being able to get here on time despite how much pain she's in."

Frowning Finn asks the obvious question, "You're implying someone is hurting her, on a regular basis?"

I nod and tell the two Mikaelson ghosts, "I told my daughter when she got engaged to him that he was bad news, but she wouldn't listen."

Finn narrows his eyes when he asks, "Your granddaughter's father hurts her?"

Nodding I tell them, "I suspected a few times through the years, but I always second guessed my suspicions when nothing else indicated there was a problem. I even asked Bonnie several times if he was hurting her. I'm sorry to say, I believed her when she said he wasn't. Now that I'm on the Otherside I've seen enough to know he hits her most days."

Finn's fists clench when he tells me, "My siblings and I have experience with a physically abusive parent, so they'll be able to help her. Kol might lose his temper if he ever personally witnesses your former son-in-law striking her and kill him but rest assured that none of my siblings will harm her and they won't allow anyone else too either."

I nod and tell him with a smile, "I know. I'd be very vocal if I objected to your brother's plans for my granddaughter. It wouldn't affect the situation, but I'd still be vocal."

He laughs at that and then turns to look at Bonnie. The witches clearly removed her addiction to the dark magick Atticus taught her. Her aura no longer carries the dark smudges of black it had last night. However, now there are big gaping holes in her aura, so it's still not balanced. That means she doesn't have any magick right now, which may or may not help Kol's cause.

Kol's thoughts echo my own before I laugh and tell Finn, "It will probably help because she'll need assistance getting her powers back. He's one of the very few individuals who will be willing to assist her with that because most witches would be reluctant to help because they'd feel she needs to be punished for touching the dark. However, what they never realize is that by completely taking away her spirit magick they leave her half empty. If her spirit magick is kept from her, then the only way she can fill that gaping hole back up is with dark magick."

Finn and Freya both nod the same time that Kol silently vows, 'I won't allow the darkness to swallow her the way it has so many before her. I will save her. I will not fail her the way I have others in the past.'

I disagree that he failed his other friends through the years. The decision to continue using dark magick was theirs and theirs alone, so Kol is not to blame for that especially because according to Finn, Freya, and Henri their brother was very vocal in trying to convince his friends to steer clear of it. I agree with his sentiment, however, and I know that if there is anything within his power that will help Bonnie, he will do it, gladly and freely.

Just the knowledge that she has no magick at all is making my granddaughter's skin itch with the urge to touch the dark again. Fortunately, she knows she can't, though, not without probably killing herself not to mention what she thinks The Spirits would do to me if she touches the dark again. Kol's offer to help her get her magick back is therefore very, very tempting.

My grandbaby ponders, 'Would it be safe to listen to him? It'd be safer than touching the dark again, but safe completely? The jury is still out on that.'

I frown and tell Finn, "I watched over Bonnie last night until she went to bed, and none of my daughter's friends would tell my precious girl how to get her magick back. They said losing it was her punishment for touching the dark, and she has to live with that."

Nodding Finn tells me, "The ironic part is I don't think they'd feel that way if they knew what it feels like not having your magick. It feels as though there is a huge gaping hole in your chest and it just won't go away."

I nod and say, "She now knows that Kol understands because you were all witches before you were turned. She realizes that that's a big part of why he's offering to help her get her magick back because he knows how she feels."

Finn and Freya's eyes widen, and I smile when Bonnie unknowingly continues my train of thought, 'I can't imagine how horrible it's been for all of the Mikaelson children having to spend 1,000 plus years with that hole that I haven't been able to deal with for just over a month or so.'

She feels half empty, and if she can't get her spirit magick back, then I can't guarantee that she won't touch the dark again just to relieve the pain and emptiness from that ever-present hole.

She doesn't want to touch the dark again though because that makes her feel dirty from the inside out not to mention the risk to me. Finn smiles and asks Freya and me, "The question, though, is does she accept what she thinks is the possibly, probably, evil vampire's offer of assistance and hope it doesn't come back and bite her in the rear end or does she just try to avoid the dark and hope for the best?"

I smile and say, "If I know my baby girl she'll accept his help and then look for a way to help him back."

Finn smiles at that, but Kol is frowning while he watches her eyes narrow in pain with each step towards him. The pain in her body shoots from her feet all the way up through her frame with every step she takes. She figures the fact that she's in pain is obvious, so she surmises that his frown has to do with that rather than anything else.

Finn tilts his head when she thinks, 'Really this is just like every other day only the pain is a little worse than usual and radiating throughout my entire body instead of just from certain muscles and bruises.' Finn nods at me when he realizes that I'm correct that my granddaughter is hurt enough that she has bruises and muscle aches on a daily basis.

He surprises me by telling me, "I wish I could give Kol a warning, but that's impossible currently so even though I like Ms. Bennett there is really nothing you or I can do to make sure she's safe."

I nod, and I know he would want to help my baby girl even if she wasn't responsible for saving two of his brothers' lives last night, he's just that compassionate.

Kol's eyes slowly travel over Bonnie's body from the top of her perfectly, but not overly, styled hair to the flowing gauzy top in multiple shades of blue that highlights both her beautiful, smooth, mocha skin tone and her curves that Kol finds very pleasing and thinks would make any man with eyes drool.

His eyes continue their perusal and follow her curves to her black skinny-jeans that highlight her womanly figure. A blush breaks out over her face because she catches his eyes in mid rove and it's evident by the satisfied smile that breaks out across his face that he most certainly approves.

She may be my granddaughter, but I can admit she is incredibly beautiful and catches the eyes of many men, but none as appreciative of the view as Kol Mikaelson is at this very moment.

Even the lightweight black jacket she paired her outfit with compliments her fantastic figure, though, I'm sure she's wearing it because the weather is cold this early in the morning in the first week of December and not just because it looks good on her. Kol's smile widens when his roving eyes land on her silver high heels that give her a few more inches than what God gave her, but when she gets closer to him I realize that she's still much shorter than he is even if her shoes do make her slightly taller than without them.

He's still leaning against the wall wearing an incredibly pleased smile, but the wind shifts when she's about 15 feet from him. Wanting to smell her natural scent again after it had filled his head with such pleasant thoughts last night in the high school hallway when he was so remarkably close to her he takes a deep breath and gets a delightful surprise, which causes his eyes to widen slightly.

A slow smirk spreads across his lips before he raises an eyebrow at her and asks, "Darling, what have you been thinking about that has you smelling so delicious? You smell like little bits of citrus and some woodsy flower that reminds me of this meadow near our village that was always full of little blue and white flowers. Naughty thoughts of young Jeremy perhaps?"

Her face and her thoughts clearly say, 'Oh my God, he can smell that? Talk about embarrassing.' She quickly decides, though, that she's not going to tell him that it wasn't Jeremy she was thinking of but rather him filling her head with naughty thoughts. Her decision becomes firm after his eyes run over her body a second time and his smirk returns to his pleased smile. Instead, she squares her shoulders and juts out her chin before she tells him, "N-no, I wasn't thinking about a-anyone that way,"

Finn, Freya and I chuckle to ourselves, and so does Kol. Freya's smile is wide when she says, "It would have been far more convincing if she had managed to say it without the stutter." That's absolutely true, and my granddaughter's constricting pupils, temperature spike, and her heart skipping a beat when it picks up its pace just adds to our awareness. Kol's responding smirk tells her that he knows she was thinking of someone in an impure manner.

While he looks at her, she's turning bright red, and he takes another deep breath. The almost Jasmine scent of her blood so incredibly close to the surface is mixing with the fruity scent and threatening to overpower his senses. It's all he can do not to grab her and lick her all over because she smells that good to him. Still, he holds back the urge and instead gives her a cheeky grin before he asks, "Me then?"

Her brain shouts, 'How the hell?' Her jaw falls open just before she snaps it closed and scowls at him. In her most stern voice possible she tells the grinning vampire, "Absolutely not," although the fact that his smile just gets wider tells her he thinks she's really saying, "Yes, absolutely."

My ghostly companions and I laugh and have broad smiles when she silently grumbles, 'Damn vampire. It's that jacket. It's very flattering, and I'll never admit to anyone, not even Caroline, but I've had dreams about him in that jacket. Okay, so I've had dreams about him in less too, but that's beside the point. I find that jacket extremely attractive, and it has nothing to do with the insufferable vampire wearing the coat.'

Meanwhile the spike in her temperature and the speeding up of her heart not to mention the constricting of her pupils again definitively contradicts my baby girl's words. Kol is grinning so hard I fear his face may split in half and he's leaning towards her with an open posture that he obviously hopes invites her to reach out and touch him while he thinks, 'So she was thinking of me? That's good to know. Fortunately, that will help my cause now that I know for sure that she's attracted to me and not just my very flattering coat.'

I laugh and tell the two oldest Mikaelsons, "His cause doesn't actually need any help. My granddaughter will easily fall for him." I narrow my eyes and tell them, "He better treat her the way she should be treated or ghost or not I'll find a way to end him."

Finn smiles gently at me and says, "He's only ever physically hurt one woman he was in a relationship with and that was only because he came across her right after finishing the transition and she had an open wound. Even with his exceptionally short temper, he has never even considered hitting a woman if she wasn't an actual threat to him or his. He also while not the most patient person in the world," I raise my eyebrow at that, so Finn pauses then shrugs and says, "Okay while not patient at all in most cases he is very patient in his relationships. He always lets the woman lead the pace, and he's, I believe the modern term is, emotionally intelligent. He picks up on his partner's emotional cues and addresses any issues that arise as soon as he's aware of them. His short temper aside he's very in tune with his own emotions, too, and honestly, he was ahead of his time on that front and even now in this day and age he's more willing than most men to feel and then share what he's feeling. Despite his penchant for losing his cool in the heat of the moment, he's always been able to have incredibly healthy relationships with the opposite sex, even more so than the rest of my family. Everyone always thinks that is odd given his short fuse, but somehow, he manages to reign it in when it counts. While I have seen him throw things while in an argument with his significant other, it was never in her direction and he always told her he needed to leave and calm down when he thought he might do something he'd regret. As I said he's never gotten anywhere close to raising his hand to a woman in anger, so rest assured, Sheila, your granddaughter will be safe with him, both emotionally and physically, I guarantee it."

Freya nods showing that she agrees, so I nod back and smile at the picture their brother and my granddaughter make while Kol's grin transforms into a cheeky smile a moment later before he responds, "Whatever you say, Darling!"

My grandbaby's blush continues to deepen causing Kol's smile to widen so she grumbles slightly under her breath saying, "Insufferable, annoying, full of himself vampire. How the hell does he even know what I was thinking about? Is it a vampire thing or a Kol thing? Either way, it's still damn annoying."

He grins even when his future mate squares her shoulders and frowns before using an even firmer voice telling him, "We're here to free Damon from your evil compulsion not for you to try to flirt with me."

Kol flinches ever so slightly at her use of the word 'evil.' She catches it out of the corner of her eye and thinks, 'That's weird. Someone who's evil wouldn't care if someone else called them evil. They probably would even revel in it. Could we all be wrong about him?' She pauses her thoughts and then nods slightly to herself and thinks, 'I'll have to pay attention and see if there are any other signs that we might be wrong.'

She's inclined to think they're not wrong because in her mind he tried to kill Jeremy. Although my very moral grandbaby begrudgingly admits that maybe he was right about Silas. Still, everything she saw in her premonition wasn't a result of Silas rising but a result of Kol getting revenge on Jeremy and Elena for killing him. She reluctantly concedes, 'And, yeah, okay, maybe they were in the wrong because Kol was really just trying to save the world, but does that really make up for all the people he's probably murdered in his long life?'

Finn frowns and says, "I don't know what she saw in her premonition, but she has no idea the man my brother truly is. That's true for all my siblings, but especially Kol. There isn't a single death of an innocent that he's caused that he doesn't feel guilty about and wishes he could have a do-over for and prevent."

Freya nods and adds, "If he gets his way, though, she'll know everything there is to know about him, so she'll probably only have the negative opinion for a while longer if Kol hasn't lost his touch with the ladies."

Finn gives us a smile remarkably like his brother's cheeky grin and tells us both, "Nothing I've seen of him indicates he has, so I have high hopes."

Freya and I nod and look at my granddaughter. She mostly used the word 'evil' to prove to herself that she's not attracted to the 'evil' vampire, or partly as a reminder for herself that he's supposedly 'evil.'

Kol chooses to ignore her use of that word, and he smirks again before he tells her, "Oh I wasn't trying, I actually was flirting with you, Darling, but if you insist, we'll do our business first, and then we'll get to the fun parts."

She works hard at deepening her frown, but the corners of her mouth twitch ever so slightly with the grin she's forcibly holding in while she walks past the original towards the door, and without looking at him she tells him, "There will be no fun parts, at least none involving me anyway."

She adamantly tells herself, 'It doesn't matter how much I wish there could be fun parts. Even if he's not completely evil, he's still my enemy, so I can't forget that, even if his smiles actually send butterflies flapping through my stomach.'

She can protest all she likes, but I know now that she wants to get to the fun parts just as much as he does, and apparently he knows it too, so he grins again and after sighing dramatically he uses what is his most over the top put out voice and says, "If you insist, Darling."

Her lips twitch again wanting to lift into a smile and his resulting smile tells her that she's not as successful at hiding her grin this time even when she tells him, "I do."

I've been watching Bonnie and her friends ever since I died, even with me spending time with the Mikaelson's. Therefore, I'm incredibly familiar with her group's habit of barging into the Salvatore's house any time they come over.

Kol, on the other hand, had no clue the group of teens was so informal with the two younger vampires, so his eyes widen when my grandbaby opens the door without knocking. Still, he follows her inside, and when she turns her head looking at him he raises his eyebrow at her and asks, "Are you in the habit of just barging into a vampire's home unannounced? Because I'll be honest, I'm not sure what that says about your level of intelligence which up to this moment I had thought was well above average?"

The currently powerless witch smiles and giggles and I chuckle too. Kol seems so scandalized by the idea. A moment later, though, Bonnie loses her smile before she tells him, "First, Stefan is probably at school, so no one's here to let us in because Damon's locked up."

He frowns, and despite Bonnie's best efforts to keep it to herself, he notices the slight strain even she detects in her own voice and the stiffening of her shoulders when she says Stefan's name. She's not as comfortable with him as she wants everyone, including the Mikaelsons, to think she is. Kol wonders, 'What's the story behind that?'

At about the same time my granddaughter thinks to herself, 'The first rule of battle: Never let the enemy see you flinch. If they see a weakness or dissension in the ranks, they will pounce and capitalize on that weakness. And although I can't stand and don't trust Stefan the fact of the matter is we both want the same thing: for Elena to be safe. So, I hope the image of a united front that I'm trying to convey to the world at large is sturdy enough to withstand Kol's scrutiny.'

Finn frowns and says, "It's not. Not by a long shot. I really wish there was a way to warn him about the ripper. He has some clue, but he doesn't know the whole story. Kol, Freya, and I were haunting Niklaus and Rebekah back when they were friends with Stefan. And when they ran from Mikael once more, we all followed long enough to see Niklaus dagger our sister. Then Kol and Rebekah stayed with Niklaus while Freya and I ran back to Stefan's apartment and spent a few years mostly following him around, so we know all of his secrets. Or at least the ones from 1921 to 1936 when his friend Lexi found him once more and got him off of human blood. Of course, that only lasted until she sent him off to war a few years later. Why she thought that was a good idea is anybody's guess. The ripper in him quickly succumbed to his desires for blood and torture, and the ongoing war allowed him to hunt and feed in the open without worrying that someone might figure out that there was a vampire in their midst."

Freya is nodding while her brother speaks, and when he pauses a moment, she continues the story, "When he finally came back in 1951 his incredibly patient friend had to spend the next three years getting him back onto the animal diet. Honestly, if I had been in her shoes, I would have just killed him and been done with it. Perhaps that's because unlike Lexi, Finn and I traveled throughout Europe and saw his exploits in the flesh for most of the war. I think I speak for both Finn and me when I say we tend to agree with your granddaughter that the ripper shouldn't be trusted for any reason."

Finn nods deeply at his sister's words, so I nod, too. However, Kol doesn't know any of the finer details of what his siblings witnessed from Stefan after he left Chicago. He still picks up on Bonnie's tells though, so my grandbaby continues and pretends she doesn't notice his raised eyebrow and quirked lips. She lowers her voice and leans towards him before she confides, "But in truth, none of us ever knock here. In fact, Damon gets very put out if he has to get up and answer the door. Plus, I think they'd think something was wrong if we knocked. Only those not in our inner circle knock, usually when they plan to kill Damon, so he's understandably a little leery when someone knocks because the last three people who knocked had active plans to take him down. Ordinarily, I wouldn't tell you that since technically you're our enemy too, but both of your brothers have already witnessed us just walking in enough that I figure they'd share the knowledge with you if it became relevant."

Kol is frowning even while he nods and tells the brunette witch, "They haven't shared this habit of yours with me and honestly if we were going to attack it probably wouldn't be here where you'd have more resources available to you. However, Darling, I find myself unsettled just by the idea of someone barging into my home unannounced. I think I value the distance that door puts between me and everyone else a little too much to allow just anyone to come and go without my knowing. I would make everyone but my family knock first and wait for me to let them in, and I'm sure Nik would literally tear off heads if someone were presumptuous enough to enter our house without first knocking and then being invited inside."

Bonnie nods. She can see Niklaus ripping heads off for multiple reasons, but not knocking and just barging into his personal space is at the top of the rather lengthy list of reasons she would expect that reaction for. Her face can't decide if it wants to smile or frown and she's sure that her face looks odd. It sure feels strange to her. Even still she tells him, "I can totally see him doing that."

Kol just nods but doesn't verbally respond so after pausing a few seconds she tells him, "Follow me, Stefan's maybe at school, but either way, he wouldn't want us bothering him, so we can just head down on our own."

There's that question on his face again. He knows that there's a story here, but she seems thankful that he appears to know that now is not the time to try to get it out of her mainly because Damon has likely been listening to every word they've said since she showed up. She really doesn't want anyone to know just how deep her well-placed distrust of Stefan runs, but especially not anyone who might tell Elena about it. Damon is at the top of that list, so she tenses waiting to see if Kol will say anything about it.

He doesn't. Instead, he smiles and in a blatant attempt to ease her mind about the possibility of Stefan being in the house he tells her, "My vampire senses tell me that other than a few rats in the basement Damon is the only other creature in the house with us."

Her shoulders visibly relax. She shudders, though, before she nods and says, "Ignoring the mention of furry little rodents I hope not to run into, those vampire senses are pretty handy. Too bad they come with the need to feed on humans."

Kol nods back, and after he chuckles slightly, he tells her, "Don't worry, Darling, the little critters are far more frightened of Damon and me as apex predators than you are of them. As for my being a vampire, it does have its downsides. I'll give you that. Although, sometimes the good sides outweigh the bad, especially now that I'm older and have more control over my baser instincts."

Her eyes widen, and she thinks, 'Seriously? Downsides? That's what he's calling mass murder and mayhem? I can admit that there are some benefits to being a vampire though I can't really see many or really any of them outweighing the bad sides because the bad is so very severe.'

He knows all of that, but he's learned to look on the bright side whenever possible, or he'd never get out of bed. He continues telling her, "Unfortunately, except for a lucky few it can take up to three or four centuries for some vampires to get themselves under control. Sadly, there are also some who never get it under control."

She nods, and Stefan once more pops up in her mind. The ripper has been a vampire for over 146 years, and he still doesn't have any real control over himself.

Kol surprises her, though, when he says, "There are things the sire can do to make their progeny's control better from the start, but I think most either don't know enough about the species or just don't care enough to actually take those steps."

She nods once more with a frown firmly on her face, and she shifts back and forth on her feet. Her mouth opens then closes, then opens and closes once more. She wonders, 'Do I want to ask for specifics about the things a sire can do to make the transition easier on their progeny?'

She shakes her head at herself then thinks, 'Probably best to keep my time with Kol as limited as possible, so no it's better I don't ask for details.'

She nods to herself once and then she turns and begins leading him down the hall before she stops and stomps her foot and thinks, 'But dammit I really want to know what things a sire can do to make the progeny's life easier!'

Halfway down the hall Bonnie turns back and faces Kol before frowning slightly and asking, "I wasn't going to ask, but my curiosity is getting the better of me, so what can a sire do to help their progeny?"

He smiles and tells her, "For starters, Darling, you need to know that the age of the sire at the time they feed the person their blood effects the baby vampire's strength, speed, senses, vampire powers, and their control over not just their bloodlust but their heightened emotions too. The sire can't really control how old they are though, so the first thing a sire can actively do to help is to give copious amounts of their blood to the individual before their death. The amount of blood inside the person when they die has a huge effect on the strength of the new vampire's abilities and especially their level of control. The more blood that's been drunk, the stronger their abilities, even to the point that despite being a baby vampire they might surpass their sire in strength, speed, abilities, and control."

That explains why Caroline has held her own and managed to beat Damon in at least two fights that my granddaughter is aware of. I see in her mind while she replays watching Damon open his wrist five times to feed her friend his blood because her injuries were so severe.

She wonders, 'He didn't say anything while he was doing it, but I wonder? Did he know he would be making Caroline stronger? No, how could he? Our plan was for her to heal and stay human, so he didn't know she was going to transition. Add in that he tried to kill her right after she turned and yeah, he didn't know she would turn, so it's just a happy coincidence that she had so much blood in her system when Katherine smothered her.'

Finn frowns and tells me, "Brilliant, yet another reason to hate Katerina. She killed the woman my other brother fancies." He looks at me and asks, "Sheila, to your knowledge, does Niklaus know of Katerina's involvement in Ms. Forbes' transition?"

Pausing to really consider his question and the conversations I've overheard Caroline and Niklaus having I finally shrug and tell him, "I don't think she's told him. I'm not sure he's spoken to anyone else who might know that bit of information about Caroline or how she became a vampire either, so my guess is no he doesn't know that Katherine essentially murdered Caroline. He also probably doesn't know Katherine's reason either which was to provide Niklaus with a vampire for the Counter Curse that unshackled his wolf."

Finn sighs and says, "So basically Katerina did it to please my brother enough to keep him from killing her?"

I nod so he nods back and tells me, "Well for Elijah's sake I'll pray that Niklaus never finds out because I'm certain he will not react well if he finds out she killed Ms. Forbes and his reaction will be even worse if he discovers that he was Katerina's motivation for doing it. No amount of Elijah pleading will save Katerina if Niklaus discovers the truth behind how Ms. Forbes came to be a vampire."

Kol could tell that Bonnie was lost in thought, so he paused to give her a moment. Her eyes focus back on his about the same time I nod at Finn's words so Kol smiles gently and tells her, "That control part is critical because the more blood they have in their system the significantly easier it is to resist the siren call of any blood they might encounter."

He pauses, crosses his arms over his chest and then tells her, "Don't get me wrong, though. Resisting it is still incredibly difficult, but it's significantly less so if they've had copious amounts of blood before they died. Dying shortly after ingesting the blood is better too. The longer between drinking the vampire's blood and dying means the less blood will be in the human's system when they die."

If her memories are accurate, and I see no reason to think they're not then that means Caroline's situation was the best-case scenario if she was going to turn. She offers up a silent prayer, 'Thank you, God, for making Caroline strong enough to not kill that nurse.' My baby girl acknowledges that Caroline killed someone named Carter but that he's the only victim her friend has had that was because she lost control. Her other few victims were from when the blonde was protecting people.

Still, my granddaughter's eyes are wide open, and her mouth is in the shape of a little 'o,' but she's gently nodding while he speaks, so he continues explaining his point to her, "Then there is simply the sire being present when the new vampire wakes in transition. It's been my experience that most new vampires don't know what's happening to them when they wake in transition."

Bonnie was nodding, but she stops the motion and wonders how that is possible. Frowning slightly, she tilts her head slightly before she asks "How do they not know? Wouldn't most people know they had drunk vampire blood? I mean Caroline didn't know, but that's because she was hurt and in a coma when Damon fed her his blood, but I guess I kind of figured that that was an exception, not the rule."

Kol nods and tells Bonnie, "I've healed humans and then compelled them to forget that they were ever hurt never mind that I fed them my blood and healed them. Despite who and what I am I've had countless friends throughout the centuries. Friends that I cared enough about to heal if injured or sick. Friends that if they weren't witches, I also cared enough about to keep them ignorant of The Supernatural World around them. Usually not knowing we exist is far safer for humans, especially if Mikael or his minions came looking for my siblings or me. Mikael was far less likely to harm a human if he thought they knew nothing about us or what we were."

That makes sense to her, so she nods before he says, "I know you doubt that Nik cares about anyone other than himself."

He's right about that. She thinks the hybrid only genuinely cares about one person, himself. At first glance, that's what it seems like, but according to all his siblings, those who know him best know it's quite the opposite. He's so desperate for love that except for him daggering his siblings he usually does whatever he can to keep everyone else happy. Furthermore, at least two of the occasions in which he daggered one of his siblings was to protect the one being daggered, and/or the ones not being daggered. Make no mistake though Mikael might have tried to kill Niklaus' capacity to care, he failed.

My grandbaby frowns slightly when Kol continues, "But it's the same reason he compelled young Stefan to forget he knew Nik and 'Bekah. My understanding is that Mikael showed up looking for them and compelled Stefan to tell him everything he knew about them. When your friend answered that he had no clue who Mikael was talking about Mikael left him be and didn't harm him even though Stefan himself was a vampire. My brother knew that that was the easiest way to protect his younger friend, so he compelled Stefan to forget them altogether."

She always wondered why Niklaus would compel Stefan to forget. She mostly figured it was so that Stefan couldn't lead Mikael to them, but that begged the question of why the hybrid didn't just compel him to mislead Mikael. Now that she thinks about it, at the time Stefan was loyal to The Original Hybrid, so the much younger vampire wouldn't have willingly betrayed the siblings and would have allowed Niklaus to compel him to misdirect Mikael. That's all true especially considering that Stefan thought himself in love with Rebekah. Bonnie decides a moment later that Stefan's certain loyalty means Niklaus probably did do it to protect his younger and much weaker friend like Kol is suggesting. She thinks, 'Huh, that's weird thinking that Klaus would protect anyone other than himself.'

Frowning Kol tells my granddaughter, "I've lost track of how many times I've compelled the knowledge of myself and my family from the minds of human friends to protect them. I do however know of at least three dozen I did that to through the years who died a day or two later while my blood was still in their systems. I found out soon enough to take most of them with me so I could be there when they woke but not all of them. I had compelled the knowledge out of them, and it takes a few hours after the transition has begun before they would recall all compulsions placed on them before dying, so not even one of them had a clue what was happening to them until I explained."

Bonnie frowns and thinks, 'Okay, wow, that sucks.'

Finn nods and says, "I know I witnessed it first hand on many occasions, but I agree with her opinion. It was definitely not the preferred outcome, but it couldn't be helped if he wanted to save his friends from whatever injury they might have sustained not to mention the threat of Mikael's wrath."

Kol's not done though, so she nods slightly when he says, "My understanding is that that happens more often than not. I mean there are those whom a vampire cares about and might turn for that reason like my brother Finn and his wife, Sage. Those individuals know in advance what's going on, but they are, I believe, in the overwhelming minority. Plus, once I got control over my bloodlust, I'd feed and then heal my dinner so that they'd be healthy and whole with no sign of what had happened."

I laugh when my baby girl's hazel eyes widen again, and she pulls up short at that last bit. Yes, Bonnie, he heals his dinners. I know you wouldn't guess it to look at him but it's true. Her green eyes widen even more when he tells her, "I usually went for those already injured or sick so that I could heal them as my way of saying thank you for feeding me."

The smile on my face is genuine. Kol has come a long way from the young vampire I'm told would lose his cool and then come back to himself to find himself surrounded by dead bodies.

His words, however, don't fit with the image my granddaughter has of the standard behavior that she would have pegged him for. He's still frowning slightly when he says, "I'm sure though that there were some of them who given the times they were alive in probably died with my blood in their system, and I had no way of finding out in most cases."

She's nodding again, and she thinks everything he's saying makes sense and has the ring of truth to it. He really isn't lying either. Kol continues by telling her, "So if the sire is present and can help the new baby vampire then that helps much more than you would think. Dying is traumatic which I'm sure you can imagine."

Even though he can't hear me, I say, "Really, Kol? Dying is traumatic? You think? Talk about an understatement!"

Finn and Freya both nod and chuckle, and Bonnie's thoughts show she agrees with my sentiment. However, despite her shaking her head slightly the understatements keep coming because next he says, "Knowing what's going on helps tremendously and so does having a guiding hand in the very beginning. Guidance can make or break a new vampire. Once that first kill happens most baby vampires suffer such great guilt that they can't resist the urge to turn off their feelings. Without emotions controlling their bloodlust is much more difficult, and, honestly, most don't even bother trying to control themselves once they flip their switch because they don't actually care who they kill or how many die by their hand."

Bonnie's thoughts show how willing she is to admit she's in debt to someone she doesn't like or trust when she thinks, 'As much as I hate to admit I owe Stefan Salvatore anything, he still saved a lot of lives when he took Caroline under his wing and taught her how to be a non-evil vampire. I'm not stupid. I know Caroline would have flipped her switch eventually due to the guilt if Stefan hadn't taught her how to be a vampire without hurting anyone. Once she realized she could be like Stefan pretends to be then she grasped onto that goal, and nothing would sway her from it. Honestly, I think she does a much better job of not being evil than Stefan does.' My companions and I all nod at that thought.

Kol frowns and Bonnie frowns back while he tells her, "I know what it's like to wake up not knowing what's happening and having that irresistible thirst that just won't go away no matter how much water you drink, so I've always done my best to be there whenever one of my progenies entered transition. Unfortunately, it wasn't always possible, and I've run into a few of them decades or centuries later. They were incredibly angry with me when they recognized me until I explained my story and convinced them that if I had known they were in transition, I would not have left them to their own devices. Fortunately, they were old enough and experienced enough when we met again that they always could sense that I was speaking the truth, so they forgave me for not being there with them, and I did my best to teach them whatever they hadn't already figured out on their own. Anyway, learning how to feed without killing and having someone with you who has been there before helps more than you can imagine."

Bonnie is apparently still having difficulty accepting that he feeds without killing whenever possible or that he then supplies his blood to his dinners to heal them, but she thinks, 'I don't think he's lying so I might have grossly misjudged Kol in at least that respect.'

Finn smiles at me and says, "She really has misjudged him. Nothing he's said today has been untrue."

I nod and tell him, "She may have misjudged him now, but once she gets to know him she'll see that he is, in fact, telling the truth. Atticus aside she's a particularly good judge of character, especially when she has all the facts. If your brother opens up to her, she'll see the truth and open her heart to him and at the very least offer him her friendship."

Finn nods just before Kol finishes his explanation by telling my granddaughter, "There are a few other things that can help too, but those are the main things that make a vampire less likely to be completely controlled by their baser instincts."

Bonnie's hazel eyes are wide, and she doesn't say anything for a minute then a thought occurs to her, so she frowns and asks, "Wow, um, would an older vampire being present prevent someone from becoming a ripper?"

I'm not sure if Kol knows enough about Damon and Stefan's histories and specifically Katherine's involvement in their lives and their subsequent transitions that he realizes that she's asking about Stefan without coming out and saying his name. Kol's chocolate eyes are wide, and he frowns before asking her, "You mean young Stefan, specifically?"

I guess he does know enough about that situation. She nods at him, so he shakes his head and tells her, "No one actually knows why a vampire becomes a ripper. The good news is it's incredibly rare. Say, for instance, that there are two million vampires walking the earth right now probably only twenty to thirty of them are rippers, and that number might actually be rounding up a bit, especially because the rest of us tend to kill them to prevent them from revealing our existence to large populations of humans."

She smiles ever so slightly and exclaims, "Well, thank God for small mercies."

My grandbaby's shoulders noticeably relax at that piece of information, so Kol smiles and places a gentle hand on her arm before he continues telling her, "Regarding what causes the phenomenon, no one has been able to ascertain that. I mean think about it. Damon and Stefan turned the same night by Katerina's blood and died the same way moments apart from each other. My understanding is that Stefan had more recently had her blood compared to his brother who hadn't had her blood in about a day. Stefan also finished the transition first, so that would imply that the sire, their age, the means of death, or a short transition have little to nothing to do with whether or not someone becomes a ripper. Furthermore, the mere fact that he had more recently had Katerina's blood means that he should have had better control than Damon, but the opposite occurred instead."

The question, 'How exactly does he know so much about Damon and Stefan and does that bode well for us?' is written all over Bonnie's face. She frowns at the idea that the originals know so much about the Salvatores, but she's also nodding because his words make sense even if she does think, 'It's pretty scary that Kol knows so much about people who are on my side of our war.' He doesn't seem to notice her alarm, although, I know he does.

I can also see in his thoughts that he and Finn watched Katherine while she was in Mystic Falls in the 1860's, so he saw everything first hand and knows more about the things that occurred between them all than even the Salvatores do. Still, he continues the lesson without mentioning that he watched the three of them from The Otherside, "According to Nik and 'Bekah, Stefan was immediately out of control while Damon was immediately under control. Then Stefan turned off his emotions and completely lost what little control he had. His brother, on the other hand, I believe took a while to turn off his emotions, and even with them off everyone I've spoken to about him says he was incredibly controlled in terms of his bloodlust."

My grandbaby swallows audibly, 'Wait, he's actually talked to people about the Salvatores? No wonder he and his siblings always know what we're going to do before we do. They've studied us, which I suppose makes sense. They didn't get to be over a thousand years old by not doing their homework on their enemies. It's the same reason Damon and Ric scoured Isobel's research for days on end looking for anything she had on the Mikaelsons that might help us.'

Kol saw her eyes lose focus again, so he paused once more to allow her to have her thoughts. Once her eyes refocus, he clears his throat, so she focuses on his words when he says, "His impulse control is incredibly out of control more often than not regardless of whether his switch is on or not, but his bloodlust is always highly controlled."

She nods more deeply when he mentions Damon's lack of impulse control. Despite the serious and incredibly scary subject matter, Kol's lips tilt up slightly before he tells her, "Now, I'll take it one step farther and point out that they're blood brothers and grew up in the same location with the same parents. By all accounts, Stefan had a much better relationship with their father than Damon did, and Stefan was the one less likely to lash out, get into fights, or harm someone, so it's interesting that he's the one who wound up being a ripper."

Her lips thin out without turning down into a frown, but she nods when he tries to give her what little actual facts he has about rippers, "I can tell you that I've met just over a dozen or so rippers in my 1,009 years since becoming a vampire. I will admit that after getting the most information I could get out of them about their lives and how they became vampires I killed all 15 of them because they were just far too out of control and killing way too many people. More often than not the locals were beginning to notice the large piles of bodies they were accumulating at the ripper's figurative feet, so I would make sure that pile stopped growing."

She once again wonders, 'That sort of thing bothers him? I mean I know he's implied it multiple times today, but I still have a hard time believing it. Klaus called Kol their family's 'Happy Homicidal Maniac' last night, which implies that out of all the Mikaelsons Kol would be the most likely to kill and not think twice about it, but what he's saying now implies that it's the exact opposite of what Klaus' words indicated.'

I turn and look at Finn, "I meant to ask last night. Why did Niklaus call Kol your family's 'Happy Homicidal Maniac' if it's not true?"

Finn shifts his shoulders and tells me, "Niklaus usually calls him that when he's displeased with Kol. While historically Kol was the most likely to lose his temper and therefore to create an unplanned bloodbath the fact is that out of all my siblings the deaths and pain he's caused his victims and their families weighs on my little brother's mind and heart far more heavily than it does any of our other siblings. Niklaus calls him our 'Happy Homicidal Maniac' when he wants to strike out at Kol emotionally. Usually, he calls him that after Kol has lost his temper and killed everyone present. It was Niklaus' way of showing his disapproval of our baby brother's lack of control. Though, I think last night flummoxed him so much that it just slipped out without him meaning it."

I nod, and we watch Kol frown before he tells my granddaughter, "I've heard of perhaps an additional two more dozen rippers through the years. All of them, plus the ones I actually met, were like Stefan when they were human, incredibly kind and gentle with very little fight in them. When the transition happened, they lost all control and then turned off their switches becoming the stereotypical sadistic monsters of vampire lore."

Her eyes are open even wider now, and she just stares at him while she slowly blinks and processes what he's just told her.

Finn shifts on his feet slightly and tells me, "I've seen all the rippers Kol has seen while I was daggered and he was undaggered, and probably most of the ones he's heard of, several of which we saw together while on the Otherside, and I agree with his assessment of them. Often if he weren't daggered with me and heard of one, I'd leave him and go think myself to the location of the ripper. While my family has done some horrendous things over the last ten centuries, I've never seen anyone be so blood hungry and ruthless like some of those rippers were. If I slept, I'm sure I would still have nightmares about what I saw from those monsters even all these years later. Hell, just Stefan Salvatore's escapades would be enough to induce nightmares."

I nod, and Kol gives Bonnie a moment to understand that they all were like Stefan. She wonders, 'Is that significant that they all were kind and gentle?'

Kol seems to move on when he tells her, "I used to think it was a matter of the individual having an inherently addictive nature. However, I've met tens of thousands of vampires in my long life, and a good portion of them were alcoholics, drug addicts, sex addicts, or what this age calls compulsive gamblers before becoming vampires, yet none of them were rippers. Therefore, it can't be that, although all the rippers I've heard of probably had addictive personalities but weren't acting out the addictive impulses before their deaths, so perhaps it has something to do with resisting the urges while human. Our increased emotions might account for them no longer being able to resist the urges, but if that's the case then why don't the active addicts also become rippers?"

Finn frowns deeper and says, "That's a good question, and it's actually been bothering me since my family met our first ripper. Sadly, I highly doubt we'll ever truly know the answers to our questions regarding rippers."

I just nod, but don't say anything. Kol pauses and gives Bonnie another minute to process his words, and then he tells her, "There are very few rippers willing to talk about that sort of thing, though, and I've always had to resort to compelling information out of them, so we may never know what truly causes the phenomenon. Honestly, if Stefan weren't such a sanctimonious arse, I'd suggest he discuss it with Elijah. My brother has done a bit of research into the phenomenon through the years, but Stefan rankles mine and Elijah's good mood enough that I won't subject my own brother to the younger Salvatore if I can help it."

Bonnie is back to nodding. Clearly, she wouldn't subject her worst enemy to Stefan if she could help it. He smiles wider, though, and tells her, "If you wish, though, I'll ask Elijah if he'd be willing to discuss it with Stefan, but only if that's what you wish."

Her eyes narrow into little slits, and she just stares at him with her mouth thinned out into two grim lines again. She wonders, 'Why would it matter if I asked him to do it? Maybe he's angling to pay back the favor he said he owes me quickly and easily.'

Still, she shakes her head slightly and frowns before saying, "I don't think Stefan really cares enough about the why for me to subject Elijah to him without some guarantee that it would actually help the situation. I'm also sure Stefan wouldn't believe a single word that might come out of your brother's mouth even though I am unaware of Elijah having ever lied to any of us. Oh, he kept the knowledge that Klaus is his brother close to the vest for a while, but he never actually lied to any of us. He even made sure not to suggest Elena would survive the ritual until he got to know her and helped John and me find the spell I used to bring her back to life, and even then, he gave no guarantees that it would work."

He nods when she pauses, and then she once again shakes her head gently and tells him, "Anyway, thanks for offering. I don't really see the point. Unless Damon wants to pressure Stefan into talking to your brother about it, but then poor Elijah would be stuck with Stefan and his attitude doing something neither of them actually wants to do."

I chuckle at that. I have never once heard anyone call the prim and proper Elijah 'poor'. I'm not talking about his finances either. Although he's never been financially poor either, no one has ever used the word poor to describe any aspect of Elijah or his life. The fact of the matter is, he's never been 'poor' anything.

Kol grins at her characterization of his oldest surviving brother and nods before telling her, "If you or Damon change your mind, you just let me know, and I'll call in a favor and get Elijah to cooperate, and I won't count it as the one favor I owe you either."

I smile. He's positively smitten if he's giving out free favors. She frowns and tilts her head to the side before asking, "Not that I'm complaining but why wouldn't it count towards the favor you said you owe me?"

Kol smiles gently and tells my grandbaby, "I wouldn't count it because my brother and I are interested enough in the phenomenon that having the opportunity to speak to a ripper, however unwilling he might be, would make it more of a favor for Elijah and me than one I would be doing for you."

She frowns again but then nods and tells him, "Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense."

Nodding back, he then extends his arm down the hallway and tells her, "I believe we have an appointment with Damon to attend."

She nods and says, "Right," before she turns back around and finishes leading him down the hallway to a nondescript door and then down a flight of narrow stairs into an equally narrow corridor.

I follow them down the stairs, but I hear a giggle behind me, so I turn, looking at the youngest Mikaelson. Smiling I ask, "Finally got rid of her?"

Henri nods and tells me, "Yes, I finally told Esther I forgive her for using a Witches compulsion on Finn from the day she gave Freya to Aunt Dahlia and was old enough to understand her words until this last time they were all together."

I nod but ask, "Do you? Forgive her I mean?"

He vehemently shakes his head, "Not a chance. I know her well enough to know that if she ever gets her way and manages to resurrect them both that she'll compel him the first chance she gets to make him loyal to her instead of our siblings, again. However, I prefer to know what exactly she's up to. She's not likely to tell Finn what she's planning while he's not under her compulsion, and she knows you and Freya don't trust or like her, so I don't think she would trust either one of you. That leaves me, so I've decided to play the cute, gullible, youngest son and pretend to forgive her. That way she'll keep me in the loop."

He turns and looks Finn right in the eye and tells him, "Make no mistake, Brother, if she gets her wish and brings the two of you back then you should not hesitate and rip her heart out before she can get the words to the compulsion out of her mouth again."

Finn nods and tells his brother, "That's probably a good plan to have. Don't worry. I won't hesitate. While she's our mother protecting the others is our duty."

Henri nods slowly but frowns and asks, "Is it? According to mother they kill and don't think twice about it."

Shaking his head Finn walks up a few steps until he's standing right below his brother and puts his hand on Henri's forearm, "I've been watching all of them since the moment I was first daggered and then again once I died. While it's true they have all killed countless people, it is also true that they all feel enormous guilt. You've been watching them since you died too. You can hear their thoughts. Do you think they're remorseless killing machines?"

He shakes his head, "No. They have morals, albeit slightly skewed morals, but morals all the same, and they do feel remorse."

Finn smiles and nods before telling his baby brother, "Then they're worth saving. Besides, I have the sneaking suspicion things are about to change for the better for our siblings. She's going to induce them into doing the right thing more often than not because if Kol gets his way, and you're familiar enough with his ways to know that he usually does, they're about to get a steadfast moral compass by the name of Bonnie Bennett. She's going to save our family."

Henri nods again and with a smile firmly on his face he says, "I hope you are correct, Finn."

He smiles back and tells his little brother, "Oh I know I am this time."

We both smile and I tell Henri, "My granddaughter will demand that they not hurt innocent people if they want her in their lives. Her powers of persuasion are on par with Kol's, only she usually uses her unconditional love and support to get people to choose to do the right thing on their own, sort of a lead by example way of doing things."

Henri smiles and says, "I'll pray she does just that."

I pat his shoulder, and then we turn and follow Kol and Bonnie down the rest of the steps into the basement.