Chapter 021

Guess Now I Know Why

Thursday, January 20, 2011, 7:30 p.m.

Kol's Bedroom

Kol is lying on his bed with his arms wrapped around my granddaughter. They're not really doing anything other than enjoying holding each other, which has given him a suspicious warmth in his chest.

He's is trying to ignore how angry Elena's actions and words caused him to be this afternoon while he listened to Bonnie and her former best friend talk at Elena's front door. He thinks, 'The bratty girl is completely overlooking that Stefan Salvatore has killed far more people than I ever did. She's also overlooking that I, not to mention my siblings, never tortured any of our victims while he tortured most of his, even the children, which for the record I'm not sure I've ever killed a single child never mind the sheer number of them that Stefan did. And Elena Fucking Gilbert is just going to overlook those facts and condemn her best friend because my Little Bella went and did the same thing that hypocritical bitch has done twice now — fall in love with a killer.'

Kol's arms tighten around Bonnie while he recalls her admission in the kitchen that she was worried about her own safety while meeting Stefan. He wonders, 'Should I go compel him to never kill anyone who is not a direct and immediate threat to him or innocents or should I leave it be and just keep a closer eye on him whenever he might interact with Bonnie or Caroline. Jeremy could be in danger from him, too, and with us, in New Orleans, there will be only Caroline and Damon left to protect him. Damn, I think I'm going to need to go compel him after all because Bonnie would not survive harm befalling Caroline or Jeremy, especially if that harm was at the hands of one Stefan Salvatore.'

He pulls Bonnie in tighter to him and asks, "What would you say if I told you I'm seriously considering compelling Stefan not to be able to harm you, Caroline or Jeremy? I mean, I don't give a shit if he hurts Elena but you three matter to my family and me so…"

My grandbaby tilts her head up from where it's resting against his chest and kisses his chin before telling him, "Aww, you're worried about us. That's sweet. I'd prefer you do it so that he can't hurt anyone if you're going to insist on doing it."

He peers down at her and meets her eyes when she moves her head so that she can see his face before he asks her, "You'd really let me do it?"

Pausing, she considers the ramifications of his compelling Stefan before she grins a little and tells him, "Yes, if you promise to make him not harm or kill anyone who's not a threat to him, his brother, Elena, Tyler, Matt, Caroline, Jer, me, or any other innocent. I'd also want you to compel him to permanently turn on his emotions if they're not already. I'm not entirely sure they are, and I want him to keep them on for the rest of his existence, not that it'll make much difference since most of his kills were made with his emotions on. I also want him to never lose control while feeding ever again. And can you compel him to continue drinking animal blood for the rest of his existence so that he won't get more strength back? I actually prefer him as weak as possible without actually starving him."

He nods and kisses her forehead before telling her, "I agree about keeping him as weak as possible. I'll go find him tomorrow and give him the compulsions you just told me to give him. I'll also make him protect you, Jer, and Caroline at all costs and to never threaten or try to harm any of the three of you."

She frowns and asks, "How exactly did you catch him without Vervain in his system to compel him not to take Vervain? If you hadn't, you'd need to figure out a way to get him off it without breaking the truce by kidnapping him, then bleeding him, and starving him. He's told all of us that he was taking Vervain pretty much since he found out Katherine was doing the same thing."

Kol smiles pleased that his brother took care of that without his knowledge long before he ever went and compelled Bonnie's friends. He tells her, "Little known fact, and I'd appreciate it if you keep this to yourself, but Nik compelled Stefan and most of your other friends to never take or wear Vervain again back when he first came to town, so if I can locate him, I can easily compel him to do or not do whatever I please."

Her hazel eyes widen at that news, but a moment later she giggles and tells him, "That's such a Nik thing to do. Okay, so if you can compel him without hurting him or kidnapping him, then I won't object, though you might want to compel him to keep to the truce again just to be safe."

He nods and then they lapse back into silence. He chuckles a moment later when he recalls just how much he enjoyed Bonnie's conversation with Caroline. He kisses the top of her head again and then asks, "So you think I'm an excellent kisser, and so is my brother if you choose to believe Caroline."

Bonnie groans and tells him, "Don't let it go to your head, Sparkle Pants."

Nodding, he says, "Oh, I already knew just how good I am. Remember I told you that first day that I'm so good at sex I ought to be paid to do it, and that definitely includes the art of kissing."

He tightens his hold on her infinitesimally while she giggles and squeezes her arm around him before he tells her, "I did have a good laugh when Caroline talked you into compelling her not to be a gossip anymore, though. At least now you've solved that problem. I had to be careful not to laugh too loudly, though, or both of you would have heard me because you now have vampire senses."

She nods after giggling again, and then they lapse into silence once more while Bonnie tries to acclimate to these new vampire-like senses, which Kol knows from his own experience is going to take time for her to grow accustomed to them.

She can hear everything Rebekah is doing downstairs including both sides of her phone conversation with Elijah while they discuss the finer aspects of their impending move.

A few minutes later, Rebekah hangs up with Elijah, and the bang of a car door closing outside in their driveway reaches them all mere seconds after the blonde turns off her phone. Then the urgent tap-tap-tap of a knock on the front door reverberates through the house, and Rebekah answers it before she says, "Jeremy, are you okay? You don't look too good."

Bonnie looks up at her vampire with her cheek still resting on his chest and asks, "What's Jeremy doing here?"

He shrugs, so she gets up off the bed with him right behind her while she begins quickly walking towards the door of his room, and Jeremy's voice echoes through the halls when he tells Rebekah, "Rebekah, hi, I'm sorry to just drop by unannounced. I would have called you, but I think my sister deleted Kol and Elijah's numbers from my phone. She had to have done it while I was asleep this morning because Elijah called last night to check up on me again. Anyway, for whatever reason, I don't have any of your family's numbers, and I need to talk to Bonnie and possibly Kol. I kind of can't wait, so is she here, and can I talk to her?"

As the duo in question walks down the stairs Rebekah tells him, "Yeah, sure, come on in."

She tells him, "Give me your phone for a second."

He does, and she quickly types something into it and then says, "There, now you have mine and all of my brother's numbers and email addresses if you ever need them."

He lets out a sigh and nods before he says, "Thank you, Rebekah."

She nods back and leads him farther into the foyer after telling him, "No problem, Jer, we should have given you our numbers the other night, but it honestly didn't occur to me that you didn't already have them. If you think your sister has been messing with your phone, you might want to password protect it, though."

He sighs and says, "It already is, but it's an easy enough password that if Elena gave it much thought, she could probably guess it within a few tries so maybe I should change it to something that no one can guess. In math class the other day we were learning about Fibonacci sequences, so maybe I should pick a number and then do a Fibonacci sequence. Elena will be clueless if I do that."

Rebekah giggles and then says, "But now, Kol, Bonnie and I all know."

He smiles and asks her, "Hmm, I wonder what it says about my relationship with my sister that I trust The Original Family of Vampires with that knowledge way more than I trust Elena with it. I mean who deletes numbers off other people's phones? Who does that?"

The boy pauses then smiling gently says, "I'll be honest, you have a real knack for being a vindictive bitch when it's called for, but I can't see you ever being as immature as Elena apparently is and deleting the numbers of people you don't like off of any of your brother's phones."

She giggles and shakes her head before confiding, "I might have centuries ago if phones existed back then, but I like to think I've matured beyond that sort of pettiness in the last few hundred years."

Jeremy chuckles and says, "Personally, I think you have, so no worries."

She beams at him and leads him toward the stairs.

When Kol and Bonnie finally see Jeremy's face, he's smiling at Rebekah, but his eyes are red with drying tear tracks on his cheeks, so neither original is surprised when Bonnie rushes to him and asks, "Jer, what happened? Why didn't you call me? I would have come to you."

The ghost whisperer frowns and says with some bite, "Because my bitch sister compelled me not to talk to you on the phone anymore, and because she's the one who's been supplying me with my Vervain I have no clue what else she's compelled me to do or not do."

Kol thinks, 'She compelled him? Thank God I planned for that possibility when I placed all my compulsions on everyone. Although technically he's not compelled anymore so unless Elena has been actively keeping his Vervain from him he shouldn't have been able to be compelled.'

Bonnie's voice wobbles a little as she says, "I have no idea what to say to that Jer. What do you need from us? Whatever you need, if it's mine to do or give, I will."

Jeremy smiles slightly and says, "I'm hoping Kol will do me a couple of favors, even though I already owe him many for my nurses and my arms. I'd like him to compel Elena to take all her compulsions off me, and then I'm hoping he was serious about me moving with them, and he'll compel her to let me move with you if the rest of the Mikaelson's don't mind me tagging along. I can't live with someone who is willing to force me into compliance if I do something they don't like. And I was serious about not knowing what else she might have compelled me to do."

Kol thinks, 'He wants to move with us? Okay, I didn't see that coming, but he's a good kid, and he's unflinchingly loyal to Bonnie.' Kol's also certain that with just a little more time and effort on his and his sister's parts Jeremy will be completely loyal to their family, too, so like he thought last night he's not opposed to Jeremy coming with them. They'll have to take steps to protect him from their enemies, but I think between his siblings, Bonnie, and himself they should be able to keep him safe. Plus, Kol gets a perverse sense of victory, not to mention satisfaction, at the idea of Elena Gilbert's little brother preferring his company to hers.

Jeremy pauses then says quietly, "When I found out vampires were real, I felt just a little less safe in the world, but that's nothing to how I feel right now. I… I feel like my world just imploded on itself. The one person I should be able to trust beyond everyone else just took that trust and stomped all over it before tossing it out the freaking window."

He's breathing heavily before he pauses and then adds derisively, "I mean, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised because she had Damon compel me twice, but those at least were 'for my own good.' This was simply because I didn't agree with her that you've turned evil."

As more tears spill over his cheeks, Rebekah puts her hand on his shoulder, and he jumps slightly before she says, "Shh, Jeremy. You're safe here, and even if my brother doesn't compel her to take her compulsions off you, I will, and while I can't speak for my brothers I think Bonnie and I can adequately convince them to let you come with us. Now, do you know if Kol's reinstated compulsion to avoid Vervain is still in place? If it's not that will slow things down if she takes it regularly, so we'll have to get her off it before I can compel her."

Since Kol hasn't died again, that shouldn't be a problem. He compelled her just before he died to believe that the pain was just too much, so she now thinks she willingly stopped taking it and because Kol was able to reinstate his compulsions that should still be in effect. Without Bonnie's knowledge just after the new year Elijah went and bit all her friends, save Caroline and Jeremy, making sure they were still Vervain free. Then Niklaus, who accompanied his older brother on the errand, ensured Kol's previous compulsions were still in place and that any future temporary deaths won't nullify Kol's compulsions again by compelling them all himself.

This was before they realized the daggers don't work anymore so the two older originals figured that that way the compulsions would still be valid even if Kol were daggered again. Though, it should be noted that neither one of his brothers had any plans to do such a thing. They didn't survive so long by not preparing for every possibility, though.

Anyway, because Niklaus is less likely than any of his siblings to temporarily die, they thought it would be prudent to back up all their family's compulsions on all the residents in Mystic Falls that they might have previously compelled. The Mikaelsons' three young friends don't know that, but all of the original brothers do, so Kol is relatively sure that Elena is still following all his compulsions.

Kol blinks, though, when Jeremy smiles, and it's not a friendly smile, in fact, it rivals some of Kol's smiles in its not niceness. Jeremy says, "Elena thinks she stopped taking the Vervain a few weeks ago because it hurt too much for her to drink it, so you should be able to compel her right away. Thank you, Kol for that fact, by the way."

Kol nods and says, "You're welcome. I'm surprised you're not angry I compelled your sister, though."

Jeremy smiles slightly and this one is much nicer before he says, "I know it's what's allowed us all to keep the peace and I know based on what Elena and Stefan did as soon as your compulsion was released that they totally would have attacked you guys if you hadn't compelled them not to. Besides, it works in our favor now, so I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, as my Dad would always say."

He pauses and then smiles slightly brighter before shrugging and saying, "I never did understand why you wouldn't want to look it in the mouth, but whatever."

Kol chuckles and tells him, "In centuries past, if you were given a horse as a gift, it was considered rude and uncouth to then inspect its teeth in front of the gift giver because that would be a direct insult to the individual. As for what one would specifically gain by looking at the teeth, you can gauge the age of a horse by looking at the length of its teeth. The longer they are, the older and probably less fit the horse is."

Jeremy smiles an ear to ear grin, which was Kol's goal, and nods before he tells Kol, "So cool. Is it weird that I really like being friends with people who have been alive for centuries? The stuff you guys know simply because of how long you've been alive just amazes me, and I loved hearing the stories you and Rebekah were telling us when we stayed here for Christmas and New Year's not to mention during and after the movie yesterday, especially the ones about Haiti. Even Damon tells me things about the places and times he's seen, and so far as I know, he doesn't even like me."

Bonnie and Kol laugh. Kol shakes his head to tell Jeremy that it's not weird while Bonnie takes her phone out of her pocket and then pauses before dialing and says, "I don't think it's weird, but I tend to feel the same way. All four Mikaelson's are constantly telling me things about history and other cultures that they've seen and experienced, and I love that so much."

Jeremy nods, so she nods back and then dials. When Damon picks up, she asks him, "Damon, is Elena with you?"

His frown is evident in his voice when he says, "No, why is something wrong?"

My grandbaby frowns, and with a hard edge in her +-voice she tells him, "Oh yeah, the bitch just compelled Jeremy not to call me on the phone anymore because she doesn't like that he's still friends with me."

Damon shouts, "She did what?" He pauses then lowers his voice before he asks her, "Are you sure?"

Her frown deepens while she nods and tells him, "Jer's standing right here very upset that his sister just betrayed his trust in her, again, so yeah I'm sure."

Damon's obviously still frowning when he asks, "What do you need from me?"

She frowns even deeper before nodding to herself once and telling her sort-of-maybe-friend, "I need you to help me set it up so that we can compel Elena to remove any and all compulsions she's placed on Jeremy. She's the one who's been supplying him with the Vervain water to drink, and he's unsure if this is the first time she compelled him or not. Let's face it if she compelled him once then there is a very real possibility that she's done it multiple times. Then we're going to compel her to grant custody of Jeremy to Elijah, and Jer is going to come live with Caroline and me and the Mikaelson's in New Orleans."

Damon's surprise is evident in his voice when he asks, "Caroline's going, too?"

Bonnie nods again and tells him, "She was invited and given that I'm bringing Jer and the fact that Jer and me being here were the only reasons she said no, yeah, I'm pretty sure she'll change her mind."

Damon's frown is still apparent in his voice when he asks, "Well, can't Rebekah or Kol just compel Elena not to compel him ever again, and he can stay here?"

Frowning, my granddaughter tells him, "She completely broke his trust and faith in her. How can we ask him to continue living with her when he's afraid of her and what she will do to him if he upsets her again? And more than that, how can we leave him where she could hurt him because if she can't compel him, there's nothing to say she won't actually lose her temper and hurt him instead."

Damon sighs and says, "Okay, I see your point. Can I talk to him for a minute?"

My precious girl looks at Jeremy who is listening to her side of the conversation intently and asks, "Jer, he wants to talk to you if you're willing."

He sticks out his hand, and when she puts the phone in his hand, he brings it up to his ear and says, "Yeah?"

Damon sighs and says more quietly than is customary for him, "Jer, I'm sorry it's come to this. Are you physically okay? She didn't threaten or hurt you?"

Jeremy sighs back and tells the usually sarcastic vampire, "No, she just compelled me never to talk with Bonnie on the phone again. Damon, she didn't seem surprised that it worked, so I really think she's been purposefully withholding the Vervain."

Damon sighs again and says, "I hate to say it, but if she didn't seem surprised, then you're probably right, and as much as I can't stand the Mikaelsons, I trust Bonnie and Caroline. I firmly believe that Kol and Klaus will curb any violence towards you to please them, and Elijah, as reluctant as I am to admit it, is far too honorable to harm you without you attacking him or his family first, so you should be safe with them. Plus, Rebekah has always just wanted friends, and because I know you, Bonnie, and Care are among the best friends a girl could ask for I'm inclined to think she won't hurt you either, so I'll help you set up Elena so one of the Mikaelsons can compel her. I need you to promise to call me if anything goes wrong, though, and we'll come up with another plan if living with The Originals doesn't work out, okay?"

Jeremy sighs in relief and says, "Okay, thank you, Damon."

"No problem, I know we haven't always gotten along, and that's mostly been my fault because I'm the one who killed Vicki and you, but you're a good kid, and you deserve not to live in fear that your guardian is going to compel you to do things that you don't want to do. To that end, I'm going to give you some money, and I want you to get a P. O. Box in New Orleans. Once it's set up give me the billing details, and I'll pay the bill on it every month, and I'll use the box to send you Vervain so that you can put it in your own food and know for sure that no one is trying to compel you."

Jeremy nods and says, "Okay, thanks, I'll text you the address as soon as I set it up."

"Good, and I'll pack a box of it for when you guys come over tonight, so you can take it with you."

Jeremy smiles and asks, "Okay, so how do we do this? Elena's not going to be willing to come here so…"

Damon sighs again but tells him, "Ask whichever original is going to do the compelling what time they can get here, and I'll call Elena and arrange for her to show up a few minutes after they get here."

Rebekah smiles and says, "We can be there in 25 minutes, Damon."

He tells her, "Okay, then I'll call Elena in fifteen and invite her to come and stay the night. That'll give us a little while because she'll need to pack a bag and then drive here."

Jeremy frowns and says, "Thank you, Damon."

Damon is probably frowning again when he tells him, "I should have used The Sire Bond to make sure she couldn't hurt you, but I honestly didn't think it would come to this. I know she loves you, but she just hasn't been right since you lost your arms."

Jeremy sighs and says, "You mean since she knew for certain that she's stuck as a vampire."

Damon releases his own heavy breath, "Yes, that's what I meant."

Jeremy's frown lines have frown lines before he says, "Okay, so we'll be over in 25, okay?"

I imagine Damon is nodding when he tells him, "See you then."

Jeremy ends the call and hands Bonnie back her phone. She looks at Rebekah and then at Kol standing beside her and asks, "Which of you is going?"

They glance at each other for a minute and then Kol says, "I think we'll both go, because if we're going to The Salvatore Boarding House, we may also have to deal with Stefan, so the two of us and you should be enough to keep Stefan from interfering and allow one of us to compel Elena. Little Bella, have you told Jer what happened with Caroline?"

She shakes her head and turns and says, "I was telling her that Kol and I did The Linking Spell this morning, and I accidentally compelled her. Then she told me to do it again and compel her not to be able to tell mine or the Mikaelsons' secrets. After she taught me how to do it on purpose, I managed to do it, and we're pretty sure it stuck."

Jeremy asks the obvious question, "She actually asked you to compel her not to gossip?"

When she nods, he laughs before he says, "Too funny. That's such a Care thing to do and part of the reason I love her like a sister." His smile drops from his face when he sobers quickly and frowns before asking, "Why wasn't she taking Vervain, though?"

Kol shakes his head, "Nik compelled her with the rest of most of your friends before Elijah released my siblings and me from our coffins. I don't believe Nik removed it even though he hasn't used it either, so it should still be in effect. Incidentally, Elena was able to compel you in part because of the compulsion I placed on you to remain Vervain free. Although, when I died in mid-December it should have allowed you to resume taking the herb, so I have the sneaking suspicion that Elena might have interfered. I'll ask when I have her remove her compulsions from you."

Jeremy nods and says, "I'm not mad at you for compelling me. I get why you did it. I will be mad, though, if Elena compelled me to remain Vervain free, but not at you."

Kol smiles with relaxed muscles and says, "Thank you for understanding. I honestly thought you would keep the truce, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary chances and risk having to hurt any of you, so I took the extra precaution. I am grateful that you seem to forgive me, though. Now, not to interrupt myself, but we should really be going if we're planning to get there before Elena does."

Bonnie runs upstairs and gets her purse, and then she hurries back down the stairs and follows Kol and the others out to the SUV Niklaus left behind for his siblings to use.

They don't talk on the drive over, and Kol is hoping that Stefan isn't going to involve himself because, despite the younger vampire's crimes, Kol knows Bonnie will frown on either he or his sister harming him tonight.

Kol pulls up on the side of the road in front of the woods that are behind the Salvatore's house and parks before telling all of them, "The house is through those woods. I recommend we walk the rest of the way, so Elena won't see the car and know something is amiss."

They all nod, and Kol opens the glove compartment and takes out a flashlight before handing it to Jeremy, "Here because you don't have night vision this will help you not fall and hurt yourself."

Jeremy nods, and they all get out of the car and begin trekking through the woods. Surprisingly Jeremy is almost as quiet as the rest of them despite being human. He easily navigates the woods with the flashlight, and when they reach the house, they walk around it to the front door, and Bonnie opens the door and heads inside.

Damon looks up from where he's sitting in the living room nursing a stiff drink. He sighs and says, "Stefan got home just after I hung up with you, and he just left again for the night. I told him she was staying over tonight so he wouldn't stick around. I have no idea where he goes on the nights she stays here, but I figure I'll worry about that later, for now, we need him not to be here, so… Anyone else want a drink, because I have to say finding out someone you trust just forced their will on someone you care about for the sole purpose of getting their way in an argument, well, it leaves me with a distinct need to get drunk."

Jeremy surprisingly laughs and says, "I would totally be down with a drink, but I know you won't allow it so…"

Damon chuckles and says, "I might in this situation."

Bonnie speaks up then as the voice of reason, "I think we need to be sober to deal with Elena. When should she be here?"

Damon looks at the clock on the wall and says, "Probably five more minutes."

She nods and asks, "Should any of us hide, or how are we doing this?"

Kol frowns and says, "I think the moment she walks in, I'll catch her eyes and then ask for a list of all the compulsions she's placed on Jeremy. Then I'll compel her to remove the compulsions and then never to compel him ever again after that."

He smiles gently at Bonnie and asks her, "Did you tell Damon about what happened with Caroline?"

She shakes her head and then elaborates on what she already told Damon about The Linking Spell and how she's now able to compel vampires and that she accidentally and then on purpose compelled Caroline.

He laughs and asks, "She actually asked you to compel her not to be a gossip?"

Bonnie nods, and he smiles and says, "I'm going to miss her, believe it or not."

Bonnie smiles back, and then all of them with vampire senses hear Elena's car pull into the driveway. Jeremy, Bonnie, and Rebekah move to the side, so Elena won't immediately see them, and then Kol steps closer to the entrance of the room.

The minute she walks through the doorway, Kol says, "Elena," causing her to look at him, and he catches her eyes and compels her, "How many times have you compelled your brother since becoming a vampire?"

She frowns and is obviously fighting the compulsion, but the brat still says, "Five times if you don't count the four making him forget I compelled him."

Damon and Jer's eyes both pop wide open and Damon says, "Oh, Elena."

Rebekah frowns deeply before Kol asks, "What were the five compulsions?"

The fact that she is being compelled to answer does not keep her apparent attitude out of her voice. She sneers and says, "When he lost his arms, he needed so much help getting around, so before he got himself a nurse I compelled him to sit in his room and not to make a noise so I wouldn't have to help him around the house. Then later that day I compelled him not to tell anyone I wasn't helping him out and to actually make it sound like I was helping despite being mad at him. I also compelled him to never take Vervain again. The next day after he had his nurses I removed the compulsion keeping him from telling people that I wasn't helping him and was avoiding him because I thought it might be too suspicious after Damon and Caroline both commented on how I was acting so I figured Jer would bitch so I let him. Then today I compelled him not to talk to Bonnie on the phone anymore. I figure because she's leaving she'll just assume he doesn't want anything to do with her anymore, but I forgot to make him forget the compulsion."

So, Jeremy was right, it wasn't the first time, and it wasn't the worst compulsion by far. Kol smiles his not nice smile and compels her, "When I release you, you will release all of your compulsions on Jeremy, and then you will never compel him or anyone else you call friend or family, past, present, or future, ever again. Furthermore, when you receive papers in a few days transferring guardianship of your brother to Elijah, you will not argue. You will just immediately sign the papers and give them to Damon."

Kol pauses and lets her repeat everything back then he says, "You will never attack nor try to harm Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy, or Damon ever again, and you are going to stay here all night tonight and not return to your house until Damon tells you that you can return home tomorrow afternoon."

Bonnie and the rest of them naturally wonder about that last bit while she repeats the words and he releases her, but as usual, Kol has a grand plan.

Elena walks up to her brother, who's shaking. He's not sure if it's from anger or fear, and Bonnie doesn't know either.

Bonnie grabs his hand and squeezes while Elena releases all her compulsions then she seems to snap out of it and asks, "What the hell?"

Jeremy snaps back, and with a quickly reddening face, he asks her, "Exactly, what the hell gave you the right to compel me? I gave up my freaking arms to save everyone including you, and you fucking compelled me into allowing you to neglect me? I'm your brother, Elena. You're supposed to protect me from shit like that not be the one doing it to me!"

The bratty baby vampire frowns and tells him with just as much bitter heat in her voice, "It's your fault I can't get The Cure, yours and Bonnie's, so why should I have to help you. I'm a vampire because of you two."

Bonnie puts her hand on Jeremy's shoulder and tells her ex-friend, "We've been through this. Esther, Meredith, and Stefan are to blame for you becoming a vampire, and no one is to blame for you staying a vampire, that's life. Once you're a vampire you're always going to be a vampire, there is no alternative, and trying to find an alternative would have gotten everyone you used to claim you love dead, including Jeremy by your own freaking hand! I… I… since when are you such a bitch?"

Elena bites out, "Since you fucked up my life by interfering where you didn't belong."

My grandbaby reacts, without thinking, and her hand reaches out and slaps Elena's cheek. Her other hand rises to her open mouth while she just stands there staring at Elena's shocked face.

The urge to move between them in case Elena tries to harm Bonnie is strong for all the older vampires in the room, but they all know that Kol's previous compulsion, or in the case of Damon, the one just now, will keep her from attacking Bonnie.

A moment later, Bonnie bursts into tears.

Kol has her in his arms a second later and says, "Damon, I expect when she signs those papers that you will fax a copy of them to the number on the papers and then mail the hard copies to the address that will also be on the papers."

Damon nods and says, "I'll also call Bonnie and let her know that they're on their way."

Damon looks at my bawling granddaughter and says, "I'm sorry, Bonnie, I—"

She interrupts him, "It's not your fault. You didn't mistreat one of my best friends and then try to sabotage our relationship knowing doing so would hurt both of us. That falls on Elena, whom if I never see her again, it'll still be too soon. Kol are we done? I need not to be here."

He nods and says, "Jeremy, you can stay with us if you like until we leave, and because Elena is staying here tonight, we can go to your house now and pack your things and then teleport everything you don't need for the next week to the house in New Orleans."

Jeremy nods and begins walking to the door. Damon hands him a box and some money while Kol sweeps Bonnie up into his arms and when she looks at him funny he says, "You're in no condition to walk through the woods in the middle of the night, even if you will heal from any injury you might receive."

Kol leads them out of the house and into the woods before, still sniffling, she nods and reaches up and kisses his cheek, "Thank you, Sparkle Pants."

They both smile when he tells her, "Well, I suppose I should be happy you waited until we are in the woods to call me that instead of doing it in front of Damon."

She giggles while he opens the passenger side door, and he puts Bonnie in her seat.

When Jeremy gets in, Kol asks, "Your house, Jeremy?"

He nods, "Yes, I don't really want to see my sister either, so yeah while she's stuck here we should move my crap."

Kol shuts Bonnie's door and walks around to the driver's side.

His sister gets in behind him while fiddling with her phone. The blonde vampire thinks, 'I know it's in here somewhere. I intentionally got the number off Nik's phone. Ahh, there it is.'

She texts the number, "Bonnie and Jer could use a friend who has shared history with them. If you can, meet us at the Gilbert's house in ten. -'Bekah."

They don't talk on the ride to Jeremy's house, and when they arrive, Caroline is sitting on the front stoop just like Rebekah had hoped she would be.

When my baby girl gets out of the car, Caroline speeds over to her and asks, "You've been crying. What's going on?"

Bonnie wipes at her eyes and asks her friend, "Caroline, what are you doing here?"

She smiles and tells them, "Um, 'Bekah texted me and suggested you and Jer might need a friend."

Jeremy smiles and says, "'Bekah, is it? We had you and Kol, so there are two friends, but never let it be said that I turned down the opportunity to get one of Caroline Forbes' hugs. You shouldn't either if she ever offers because they're world class."

He pulls Caroline into one of her famous hugs before Rebekah smiles and says, "I'll keep that in mind, and I wasn't suggesting that we're not your friends, but I figured the companionship of a longtime friend after being betrayed might be a little more comforting than the companionship of two people you really only just met."

She makes a fair point, so he smiles and tells her, "Okay, just so we're clear I consider you and Kol friends, so thank you for looking out for us, and Kol thank you times a million for compelling Elena."

Caroline gasps and asks, "Uh, why did he compel your sister?"

While they walk up to the house, he explains everything that has happened this evening, and when he opens the door, he pauses his story only long enough to say, "'Bekah, please come into my home."

Jeremy and I both smile at the thought of the fit Elena will have when she finds out that three of the Mikaelson's now have invites. He stops walking and then smiling evilly says, "Niklaus Mikaelson, please come into my home, and on the off chance that Finn will need an invite once we find that spell, Finn Mikaelson, please come into my house, too."

Everyone stops mid-step to look at him with wide eyes and then Kol and Rebekah smile obviously understanding that he's pissing in his sister's Wheaties, as the saying goes.

Bonnie giggles and so does Caroline who pats him on the shoulder. He nods then he goes right back to explaining what a bitch Elena has been.

When he's done with his story, Jeremy looks at Caroline and says, "I bet if you ask Klaus nicely he'll take his compulsion off you. Then I can share the Vervain Damon gave me. Though, honestly, I doubt any of the Mikaelsons will try to compel either of us."

Caroline smiles and says, "I might just ask him to remove the compulsion, but I'm 99.999% sure they won't try to compel me, so I don't think I'll really need the Vervain but thank you for offering."

The two originals both smile big at her words and the reminder that she hates definitive statements. A moment later they head up to Jeremy's room so that he can pack.

When they enter his room, he looks at Kol and asks, "Kol, do you mind helping me get the empty boxes out of the attic?"

The vampire in question shakes his head and tells him, "Lead the way."

Smiling, Jeremy goes back out into the hallway before pulling on the cord hanging from the ceiling. After he's drawn the stairs down, Kol follows him up the steps.

Jeremy leads him to the corner where the folded up moving boxes lie against the wall. Jeremy stands there staring at the pile for a minute then he turns his head and glances at Kol over his shoulder and says softly, "I just want to thank you for compelling Elena. I don't have words for how grateful I am."

Kol smiles and tells him honestly, "I'm partly how she had the opportunity to compel you in the first place so in that sense it was my responsibility to right that wrong. But other than that, that's what friends are for Jer. I know we met because Nik sent me to keep an eye on you, but I wasn't lying about the offer of my friendship. I genuinely like you, and if you can overlook why we met, then I'll overlook that you tried to help your sister kill me, and I think we'll be friends for the remainder of your years on this earth."

Jeremy smiles and nods but Kol's not done so Jeremy's eyes widen when he says, "And while we're on the subject, let me just put out there that I think even at this point right now I'd miss you if you were gone. I want you to know that other than the witches I've taught there haven't been very many people in my thousand plus years that I could say that about, so you're on a very short list. I think my sister and Elijah genuinely like you and consider you their friend, too. Nik hopes to earn your friendship down the line, too, after he's figured out a way to make up for all the shit he did to you and your friends and family. Therefore, I'm certain that Bonnie and Caroline will not be the only members of our family that will miss you when you're gone. Which if you ever want to transition, just say the word."

Jeremy is smiling until Kol gets to the part about him transitioning. That really never occurred to Jeremy, so he sort of half frowns and half smiles before he asks, "You'd seriously give me your blood with the intent of turning me?"

Kol smiles gently at him. Then he pauses while he gathers his words so that he can adequately explain where the offer comes from. Still grinning, Kol says, "Even overlooking everything I just said about missing you when you're gone, Bonnie is the love of my life, and Caroline will likely be my youngest sister if Nik gets his way, and they will both feel your loss deeply. It'll take them years at the earliest to get to the point where the memory of you won't magnify the loss they feel by your absence. If I can make them not have to hurt in that way and get to keep my friend by my side for all of eternity, then I'd be an idiot not to offer at least. If you'd agree I'd start giving you my blood every day just to be safe because New Orleans really is teeming with our enemies, who will likely see you as an easy target."

Kol pauses, and Jeremy nods before Kol continues, "Best case scenario you'd probably want to wait until you are a little older, 18 or 19 at least before we'd go freezing you forever, but I know I'll rest easier if you're taking my blood every day as a precaution. You'd be weaker than my family, like Caroline and the Salvatores, but still infinitely stronger and safer than you'd be while human and of course your life expectancy would increase dramatically."

Jeremy shows how thoughtful and caring he is towards others when he overlooks what becoming a vampire would mean for himself and instead asks, "Is there any way to make Caroline stronger?"

Kol smiles and nodding, tells him, "She could do the same spell I did with Bonnie. I mentioned it to Nik while I was working on it, and he's willing to link himself to her if she is willing to be with him and only him for the rest of eternity. We both figure it'll probably be a bit of work on Nik's part to convince her that he's worthy of her, but I have faith he'll manage."

Jeremy laughs and says, "I honestly don't think he'll have to work as hard as you think."

Kol chuckles and Jeremy tilts his head at him with a frown on his face because the original's eyes are slightly unfocused.

Kol focuses back on him a second later, and at his questioning look, Kol tells him. "Sorry, Caroline heard you and said, 'Hey I heard that, and I might resemble that remark.'"

Jeremy chuckles and says, "I keep forgetting that I'm surrounded by people who can hear an ant fart from a mile away."

Kol laughs at that before Jeremy tells him, "You'd think after several months of living with a vampire I'd have gotten used to the super hearing by now, but I really do keep forgetting."

Jeremy laughs just before Kol tells him, "It does take some adjustment getting used to the lack of secrets in this family, but I think you'll manage just fine."

Jeremy smiles and tells him, "If you say so."

They lapse into silence and Jeremy thinks over what the vampire said before they got on the topic of Caroline, 'Do I want to drink his blood? Honestly, it's kind of gross, but everyone I care about is going to live forever, so if I want to keep them from having to suffer the loss of me eventually, then I should accept his offer and drink his blood. Plus, living forever would be cool. I hope I'll be more like Caroline and less like Stefan and Elena.'

Decision made, he smiles and then tells Kol, "I wouldn't be opposed to drinking your blood if you think it's necessary to protect me but only if Bonnie doesn't object to it being your blood specifically."

Kol smiles widely and tells him, "I don't think she'll take issue with it, but we can ask."

He cocks his head, and Jeremy guesses that Bonnie has chosen that moment to give her opinion. A moment later, Kol tells him, "She doesn't object, in fact, she said she definitely doesn't object to taking measures to protect you. If you're willing to allow me to feed you my blood, then she's okay with that."

Smiling, Jeremy says, "Thanks, Bon. So, yeah, I'm willing."

Kol nods and lifts his wrist to his mouth before biting into it and then presenting Jeremy with the wound.

He looks at Kol for a split second, and then he grabs the other man's bleeding arm and brings his lips to Kol's wrist.

While he sucks the blood from Kol's vein, the original tells him, "Keep drinking until the wound closes and then I'll repeat until you've drunk at least three times."

Jeremy almost pulls away to ask why so much but Kol lays his other hand on the back of Jeremy's head, so he gets the point and keeps drinking before Kol tells him, "The more of my blood that's in your system if you die the stronger you'll be from the start. Plus, a little-known fact is that the age of your sire affects your strength, speed, senses, and other powers so you'd start out with the same level as me and that effect is even truer the more of my blood that's in your system when you die. Based on what I know of how Caroline transitioned I believe the enormous amount of Damon's blood that he fed her to heal her injuries, coupled with his age at the time, is partly to blame for her substantial control over her bloodlust."

Jeremy thinks, 'Oh, I didn't know that.' Kol's not done either, so when his wound closes, he takes his arm back and bites it again before giving it back to Jeremy.

He goes back to drinking while Kol tells him, "If Bonnie is right, when Caroline finished the transition she managed not to kill her meal, which in normal circumstances where someone wakes in transition without someone there to guide them is completely unheard of. I know you'd beat yourself up if you accidentally killed someone, so I want you to always take as much as possible so we can avoid that if possible."

Kol lapses into silence while Jeremy continues drinking. The wound closes a few minutes later, so Kol bites his wrist one more time and Jeremy drinks again. When his wound heals once more, he pulls away and nods when Jeremy wipes his mouth with his hand before Jeremy says, "Thanks, I appreciate that."

Kol smiles and says honestly, "The idea is to preserve you as you are, not turn you into a monster. Most vampires don't get that option, but if I can give that to you, then I will."

Jeremy smiles and says, "Thank you for that, Kol. I appreciate your attentiveness to how I would feel about killing someone."

Kol nods back and then grabs a good portion of the pile of boxes before he heads to the stairs and then walks down them. Jeremy follows him with his own collection and they get to packing his things.

About thirty minutes later, my grandbaby calls her father and tells him, "Dad, I'm going to sleep over at Beks' house tonight because neither of us has school tomorrow. Okay?"

The formerly violent ass seems slightly suspicious, even asking, "Mhmm, will Beks older brother be in attendance?"

Bonnie laughs and tells him, "He lives there, so I'm sure he will be."

My ex-son-in-law pauses and then says, "Okay, thank you for calling and letting me know not to worry."

She smiles and says, "Yeah sure, love you."

The undeserving man says, "I love you too, Bonnie. Have a good night," and then they hang up.

I snort and say to no one in particular, "If he actually loved her he wouldn't have spent the overwhelming majority of her life beating her into submission anytime she displeased him or reminded him of my selfish daughter."

Freya, Finn, and Henrik spent the majority of today searching the Otherside for some of Kol's friends from his time in Haiti to see if they can help us narrow down which books the spells we're looking for might be in.

They only just arrived back here a few minutes ago, so they haven't told us what they've discovered, but at my words, Finn and Henri nod, and surprisingly so does Jeremy who says, "I hear you, Ms. Bennett. The guy's an ass any way you look at him."

Everyone turns their eyes to look at Jeremy, so he blushes and shrugs before saying, "What? Ms. Bennett was the only one here until a few minutes ago, and she was silent all night, so I haven't had to listen to two conversations at once, but don't forget you all only see five of us in the room, but I currently see nine of us."

They all nod and Bonnie asks, "Grams thinks dad's an ass?"

Jeremy smiles gently and says, "No, that was my word. She thinks if he loved you the way he's supposed to, then he wouldn't have spent your whole life hitting you."

Her eyes widen, but then she nods and says, "I sort of agree, but he's my dad, and I can't help but love him, even if he doesn't deserve it. If he was gone all my life like Abby, it might be easier like it is with her to not love him, but he was always there, and I can admit I'm sort of twisted around when it comes to him."

Jeremy puts down the art book he was about to put in a box and moves to her before hugging her and telling her, "It doesn't matter now because he'll never hurt you again and Kol and the rest of us will protect you from anyone who wants to hurt you."

She snuggles into the hug and says, "Thank you."

He drops a kiss to the crown of her head and then steps back with a smile on his face.

Caroline sensing that they need to change the subject before her friend starts crying asks, "Uh, 'Bekah and Kol, would you guys mind if I come to New Orleans, too? Your brother invited me, but I don't—"

Rebekah interrupts telling her new friend, "Of course we don't mind. I'll get a second girlfriend, and Nik will be ecstatic that you're coming."

Caroline nods and says, "Okay, then I'm coming, too."

They all nod before Rebekah asks, "Do you want to sleep over tonight, too?"

Caroline smiles and tells her, "I totally would, but I think I should go home and tell my mom I'm moving and dropping out of school to get my GED before she hears it from someone else. Otherwise, I'd totally take you up on that offer. I'll come by your house tomorrow morning, though, if you want. Jer, Bonnie, and I can cook you guys some breakfast."

They all nod and go back to packing all of Jeremy's things only pausing when Kol seems to have a brain fart. He stops what he's doing and looks at Jeremy for a second before he asks him, "Jer, would you mind if I compel you to be completely resistant to compulsions regardless of how old the vampire might be? You wouldn't even need to take Vervain, so although I'm sure you'll want to continue taking it, it won't be necessary, and if someone captures you and tries to wait until the Vervain leaves your system, their compulsion still won't work."

Jeremy stops what he's doing and looks at his older friend with wide eyes before asking, "Will that work and like override anyone else's compulsion?"

Kol and Rebekah nod and Kol tells them all, "It should. I did something remarkably similar to a few friends a few hundred years ago when we were still running from Mikael. He had to resort to having witches use magick to get his way."

Bonnie's eyes widened when she realizes he's talking about Chalina and her sister at the very least. Jeremy realizes her look means that she knows the rest of the story that Kol isn't telling them, so he looks at her for a minute and she nods obviously understanding that he wants to know if the rest of the story she knows lines up with what Kol is telling him now. Her nod tells him it should work like he says, so Jeremy nods back and says, "Then do it."

Jeremy shifts from foot to foot. Kol steps up to him and smiles gently before he looks him in the eyes, and after grabbing hold of his mind, Kol tells him, "From this moment forward and until I tell you otherwise you will completely and wholly resist any and all future compulsions by anyone other than me, Bonnie, Caroline, or my siblings regardless of how much or how little Vervain is in your system or that person's species and means of compulsion."

Jeremy repeats what Kol said before Kol breaks the connection and pats Jeremy's shoulder telling him, "There that should keep any of our enemies from being able to compel you for their own purposes even if they capture you and wait for the Vervain to leave your body."

Jeremy opens his mouth, and the scowl on his face tells Kol what he's going to say. Kol holds up his hand and says, "Before you get angry about the loophole I left allowing my family to compel you, I wanted to make sure that if another situation arises where we need to limit your pain or something similar that it will still be possible. I give you my word as a Mikaelson that I won't compel you again without your prior consent and even with your consent only if it will ultimately help or protect you or your loved ones."

Rebekah adds, "I promise, too. I won't take advantage and will only use the loophole if there is no other way to protect you and even then, I would warn you I was going to do it and not do it if you object."

Okay, that actually makes sense to Jeremy, Bonnie, and Caroline, and call him crazy, but Jeremy believes that none of the Mikaelsons will abuse the loophole. He thinks even Niklaus won't exploit it because he knows Bonnie would probably do something hysterically funny like cursing the hybrid to be nice for the rest of eternity if he tried.

They all nod before Jeremy says, "Okay, thank you. I trust you both to keep those promises. Don't make me regret that decision."

They nod back and tell him in unison, "We won't," and then they once again return to helping him pack his things.

Three hours later they've packed and teleported everything except a week's worth of clothes, Jeremy's laptop, and some of his art supplies that he's missed using while he had no arms.

After they put his suitcase and backpack with his laptop and art supplies into the back of the SUV and they all hug Caroline goodnight, Freya, Finn, Henri, and I think ourselves into the back of Niklaus' SUV. Rebekah, Bonnie, Kol, and Jeremy get into the car, and we drive back to The Mikaelson Mansion.

Henri, who is ever anxious to be seen by his siblings, spends the whole car ride back to the Mikaelson's house pestering Jeremy, so when Kol pulls into the driveway the exasperated teen frowns in the back seat and asks, "Uh, any chance we can look through more of your books? Henrik would prefer we find the spells before we head to New Orleans."

Frowning, Kol looks at his young friend through the rear-view mirror after he puts the car into park and asks him, "Is trouble brewing or is he just being impatient?"

Henri snorts at that and mutters under his breath causing Jeremy to laugh and tell the original, "He says, 'Coming from the king of impatient Mikaelsons that's rich,' but he doesn't know of any specific trouble."

Henri smiles but tells Jeremy, "My gut says the spells need to be in place sooner rather than later, though."

Jeremy repeats his words, so Kol nods and tells them all, "Then in that case, if you all aren't too tired, we can read some more until you need to go to bed."

All three of them nod, so after they get out of the truck, Kol goes to the trunk and takes out Jeremy's two bags before leading them all into the house. They follow him up the stairs to the room all of Jeremy's family books are in.

Kol opens the door and tells Jeremy, "This way you'll have access to all your family books just the same as the rest of us. Do you remember which room mine is?"

Jeremy nods and says, "Yeah, why?"

Kol smiles and tells him, "Then unpack and get settled and then come and find us in my room when you're ready."

Jeremy grins and nods, so after Kol puts his suitcase on the stand inside the walk-in closet, he turns and leaves Jeremy and Bonnie alone.

Bonnie waits until the door closes and then asks Jeremy, "If you want some time alone I understand, but if you want a shoulder to cry on, mine is available."

He chuckles and tells her, "I don't want to be alone, but I also don't feel like crying. For now, she's dead to me, so I'm in the seven stages of grief, the first of which is shock, so I'm not sad just yet. Eventually, I will take you up on that offer, though, because Elena pretty much killed our relationship. I mean even if Kol hadn't compelled me into avoiding Vervain she knowingly and willfully compelled me knowing full well I'd object. That much is obvious by the fact that she also compelled me to forget she compelled me in the first place. So as much as I know this will bother you, I have no plans currently to try and forgive her."

The bed springs creak ever so slightly when my granddaughter sits on the bed and then pats the spot beside her and says, "Well, like you said you're at the first stage of grief. When you get to number seven, then you can decide if you want to try to make-up with her. Making that decision any sooner is pointless because you might change your mind in the end."

The bed creaks again when he sits and says, "You're right."

She laughs and says, "Of course I am because I know everything."

Jeremy laughs, too, and tells her, "Careful, you might be spending too much time with Kol because that sounds more like him than you."

She giggles and tells him, "No such thing as too much time with Kol."

I'm sure Kol is smiling at that while he leads his sister to his room and heads into his study. I decide to give Jeremy and Bonnie some privacy because he can tell that I'm present, so I think myself to Kol's study where the vampire grabs the book he read halfway through last night off his desk and then sits down in one of the leather chairs in the corner of his study.

A moment later Rebekah whispers The Teleportation Spell and the other two chairs from her brother's bedroom appear beside the other two so that all four of them will have a seat.

The two originals have been reading for about ten minutes when Bonnie and Jeremy stop talking and unpacking and come and join them in the study. I look up from Kol's book that I'm reading over his shoulder before he tells them with a smile of his own on his face, "I left the books you two were reading where you left them."

They smile and nod before picking up their books and joining the Mikaelsons in their seats.

Just over two hours later when Kol is seriously considering giving up for the night, Bonnie looks up from her book and asks, "Uh, Kol, is this what we're looking for? There's another spell on the next page that makes me think it's exactly what we're looking for, but both spells seem dark to me."

She hands him the book, and he reads the first spell and then the second and his stomach drops because these two spells would do what they want, but Bonnie is correct they are both very dark. "Jer, can you ask Henri if these are the spells he's talking about because Bonnie is right, these are dark spells, and I don't think it would be wise to perform them."

Jeremy gets up and he and the ghost come and read over Kol's shoulder while Jeremy nods. Henri smiles and says, "No those aren't the ones. The author wrote the ones I mean in response to these two spells as non-dark alternatives. You should keep reading in this book and if the alternates aren't in this one, then read everything else by this author first because I think what we need will be in one of her books."

Jeremy repeats Henri's words prompting Kol to nod and let out a sigh of air while he thinks, 'Thank God, those aren't the spells we've been looking for.'

Kol hands the book back to Bonnie who smiles reassuringly at him and kisses his cheek before saying, "Don't worry Sparkle Pants. Even if we don't find a non-dark solution in these books, I think between you, Beks, Elijah, Nik, Finn, Henrik, Freya, Grams, and me we can come up with something that will do what we want without upsetting the balance. I mean if you figured out how to make me immortal without using a dark spell then we can make a ghost visible and possibly corporeal."

He nods and leans over and kisses her lips quickly before saying, "You're right, I know you are. I just really want to be able to hug my brother."

Henri mutters, "He just wants to mess up my hair like he used to."

Jeremy laughs at that, and when Kol turns and looks at him, he tells him with a smile on his face, "Sorry, Henrik, here, is worried about you messing up his hair. Apparently, that was your thing or something?"

Kol laughs and explains while Rebekah smiles, "Yes, I'd hug him and then mess up his hair when I pulled away. Henri if I promise not to mess your hair, will you hug me?"

Henri nods eagerly and says, "Yes, I'll hug him even if he insists on messing up my hair."

Jeremy is still smiling while he tells everyone what Henri said.

Kol smiles and nods and then the rest of them abandon their books and pick up books by Nadège and begin looking for the alternate spells.

Thirty minutes later Jeremy yawns but then smiles and asks, "Uh, I might have found them. Do these look right, Kol?"

He hands Kol the book and the original quickly reads the ingredient list and smiles wider because none of the ingredients send up red flags. He continues reading and then when he finishes reviewing the spell he grins and tells them what I already know, "This is definitely it, and nothing about this spell seems dark to me."

He flips to the next two pages and reads the second spell and then nodding tells them all, "We can definitely do both without risking upsetting the balance. Henri, do these look like the ones you were thinking of?"

We wait while he reads them, and then a minute later, he breaks out into dance. Jeremy smiles widely and tells Kol, "He's literally doing a happy dance because those are totally the ones he was thinking of."

Rebekah holds out her hand, so Kol hands the book to her. While she reads she bounces her knees and then she looks up and asks, "Kol, when can we do these? I'm not too tired to do them now, but I think it'll work better if you, me, and Bonnie combine power to make us each less likely to be super tired afterward, especially if we're doing it on three ghosts instead of one."

Rebekah hands the book to my granddaughter who reads and then smiling even broader says, "I'm not too tired, but I'll leave the ultimate decision up to you, Kol, because you're the expert on all things magickal."

He laughs, and when they both look at him expectantly, he tells them, "I see no reason why we can't do these right now. I mean, if we had somewhere to be tomorrow, then that'd be different, but so far as I know, we have no solid plans requiring us to be anywhere at a specific time."

Everyone nods so Bonnie hops up out of her chair and whispers the words to The Teleportation Spell Rebekah tweaked last night, and the books other than the one in her hand all return themselves to their original locations. She puts the book down on the table and then goes about collecting the necessary ingredients, which they will use for both spells because the second spell is meant to be performed immediately after the first. When she gets to the bit about the blood of a relative she turns and tells us, "I think you both should contribute nine drops of blood."

I tend to agree, and so does Kol who nods before they both hold out their hands and let her prick their fingers before she squeezes nine drops out of each of them. She repeats on her own finger and then when she's done with that part she turns and looks at Jeremy and tells him, "Uh, I need nine drops from you too because you're the resident ghost whisperer."

He nods so she pricks his finger too and drops nine drops of his blood into the bowl. After that, she goes out into Kol's room and returns with two brushes in her hand. Grinning she tells us, "I need hair from everyone who's going to be seeing and touching the ghosts. I've got my brush and Caroline's, which she left in my car the other day, and I put in my purse so I could give it back to her, and I keep forgetting to do that. Guess now I know why."

We all laugh, and Rebekah leaves the room and then comes back with Elijah and Niklaus' hair brushes. Bonnie carefully removes hair from each brush, and then the rest of them all pluck a few strands of hair off their heads and hand them to her. She smiles while she adds the hair to the potion and then looks up from what she's doing a minute later and asks, "Kol, Beks, Jer, Caroline, Nik, Elijah, and me… am I missing anybody?"

We all shake our heads no, so she picks up the bowl and grabs the package of matches off the table where she put them earlier, and then she says, "Okay we need to take this to the Circle outside because it needs to be done under the light of the Waxing or Waning Moon."

Jeremy frowns and asks, "Uh what does that mean? I mean, I know what the words mean but isn't that always?"

Bonnie smiles and shakes her head before she tells him, "No, the moon is neither Waxing nor Waning if it's Full or New so basically it's saying it needs to be between the time of New and Full in either direction. Ideally, I'd prefer to do it when it's Waxing not to mention a little farther away from the Full Moon, but I tend to agree with Henrik that it needs to be done sooner rather than later and Waxing doesn't occur for another 15 nights."

All the witches in the room, Vampire and ghost alike, nod and so does Jeremy who says, "Oh okay. Lead the way then."

Kol grabs the salt while Rebekah takes the book with the spells in it, and we all head out of the original's room and down the back stairs to the kitchen and then out the back door.

Rebekah is practically vibrating while she's bouncing on her toes, too, so I'm not surprised when she says, "I'm so excited!"

Kol laughs and tells her, "Really? We couldn't tell. I mean, it's not like you're bouncing in place or anything."

Bonnie and Rebekah both giggle at that while Rebekah sticks her tongue out at him before she says, "Oh hush, you. We both know you're just as excited. You're just hiding it better."

He smiles and nods because he really is excited. However, I think he's also worried it won't work because Bonnie was correct. Waxing would be much better. There is also a small chance it won't work because usually spells that require the Full Moon work on the night of the Full Moon as well as the nights before and after. The Full Moon was last night so the Universe might still consider this the Full Moon. Both facts have his muscles tight because there is a genuine chance we'll have to wait until after The New Moon to try it again.

Kol smiles and says, "Freya, as much as I want to see you and touch you on this side of the veil I'm not sure what doing these two spells would do to your ability to wake when your century of sleep ends. Ultimately I'll leave the decision up to you."

Freya smiles sadly and tells Jeremy, "I think I need to sit this one out. You, Finn, Sheila, and Henri should still be able to see me so I won't be completely alone, but I'm unwilling to risk never waking up. Niklaus' child will need protecting from Dahlia, and at this point, I'm the most knowledgeable when it comes to her. Our magick levels are high enough that I figure we'll be waking sometime this year, which means once she discovers that the little wolf is pregnant with Niklaus' child the baby will be at risk."

She shakes her head and says, "The good news is that so far as I can tell she doesn't go to The Otherside while sleeping. I did a spell just before I went to sleep the first time in the hopes of temporarily reuniting for a time with my siblings. That was before I knew they were immortal. Anyway, that's what sends me to the Otherside every time I sleep. I don't believe Dahlia knows I did that spell or how I spend the time I'm asleep, which means she's wholly unaware that I am cognizant of what's happening in the world while I'm tucked away in our magickal sleep."

Jeremy nods so she says, "That should work in our favor, and I hope it will allow me to discover her plans before she has a chance to kidnap the child, however, she knows I'm not loyal to her so we might need to come up with another angle. Either way, I'm unwilling to risk not waking up. Though, tell Kol that if he can find a way to remove her link to and control over my magick that will be a huge help."

Jeremy still nods while she speaks and then repeats her words. The Mikaelson's all frown that Freya won't participate, but they all agree that it's for the best.

Kol tells her, "I will begin looking into the link between both of you as soon as we get to New Orleans."

Freya just says, "Thank you."

After Jeremy relays that message, Kol grins and says, "You're family Freya, even though weren't raised together. I will do whatever necessary to help my family, you included. Well, other than dark magick, but I'll do anything else."

Freya smiles softly and says, "Please tell him I love him for including me."

Jeremy relays that message, too, and Kol grins and says, "Always and forever, Freya."

She repeats the oath, and Jeremy just says, "She said it back to you with her hand over her heart."

Kol nods once, sharply, and then hands Bonnie the salt and she draws the circle around all four of them and us three ghosts. She smiles at Jeremy and tells him, "Jer, I need you to stand just inside the circle over there because you can currently see them."

He nods and moves to where she directed him and then Rebekah gently places the book on the ground in front of her while Bonnie places the bowl on the ground next to it. All three of the living witches kneel, and then my granddaughter calls on the four corners before tossing a lit match into the bowl the potion is in. Grabbing hands, the three of them whisper the words to the first spell, and then they chant the last line nine times before wind blows over us, and they look up into three wide yet incredibly pleased sets of eyes. Henri is bouncing just as much as his sister had been, but Finn and I are reserved as always while we slowly become visible.

As soon as we're visible, they begin whispering the words to the second spell, and a glow surrounds Freya and the three of us, despite her being outside the circle before it pulses 27 times and then absorbs into us. As soon as the spell is over Freya disappears and Rebekah is up off her knees and hugging the daylights out of Henrik while she says, "God, Henri, it's so good to see you and hold you."

Bonnie moves only slightly slower to hug me tight, whispering, "I've missed you so much, Grams."

I hug her close to me and softly say a small prayer, "Thank you, God, for giving us this gift."

Kol rises to his feet but stays back just watching his two siblings hug for the first time in almost 1,010 years. A moment later he moves closer to Finn and wraps him in his arms, "Brother, I know I said it before, but I'm sorry I didn't realize what the bitch had done until it was too late."

Finn hugs him back and tells him, "I know, and as I said before, I forgive you. It's really not your fault because we both know being revived from the dagger jumbles our brains for a while."

Kol seems reluctant to let go of his brother, so Finn pats him on the back and then steps back just in time to prevent them from toppling over when a blonde blur speeds over to them and hugs them both.

The three of them laugh before Henri pouts and says, "I feel left out."

Kol laughs and holds out his arm for his youngest brother to join the group hug. Henri wastes no time in darting over to his siblings and slams into them hugging them tightly.

While Kol wraps his arm around his younger brother, he says a silent prayer, 'Thank you, Jesus, for bestowing this gift upon our family.'