Hello, my lovely readers. This update is brought to you by Brittana4Ever for being my 200th reviewer. Thank you to all who have read or reviewed this work. On with the show…
Chapter 33: Helpless
Heart pounding in her chest, Caroline got out of her car and ran for the front door of the Lockwood Estate. She could head Enzo's feet slapping the pavement not far behind her. The feeling of Klaus's breath tickled her neck when she drew up short. As the only two hybrids in the group of friends and family, they were the fastest. She glanced back at Klaus, registering his dark look as they peered inside the darkened house.
"What are were waiting for?" Rebekah demanded with a frown marring her face.
Caroline held up a hand. She could smell Hayley's scent in the air. Her scent should not be so fresh. Racing inside the house, her feet flew up the winding staircase and she rounded a corner to find Elijah on top of Tyler, his fists covered in blood. Liv was nowhere to be seen and Tyler seemed to be unconscious while Elijah beat him. "Stop, Elijah!" she yelled.
Klaus moved, grabbing his brother under his arms, yanking him away from the younger man. "'Lijah, stop this madness," Klaus snarled at his big brother.
Elijah let out a howl and Caroline felt it reach inside her. His pain became her pain as he struggled in Klaus' arms. She could feel that Elijah had not killed Tyler, triggering his dormant wolf side, but she could also feel the wolf's urge to come out and kill. "Elijah!" she cried, coming over and taking his face between her palms. "Calm down. Breathe for me," she told him, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling.
Elijah shook his head, fighting her compulsion when she grabbed him, roughly, a fist full of his hair clutched between her fingers. "You are no good to any of us if you keep this crap up. Now, get it together for Hayley and the baby's sake!" she yelled at him.
Elijah's head bowed as he began to inhale shakily and exhale. She could still feel his murderous feelings coming off him in waves but he was calming down, becoming rational again. "I'm fine. Let me go, Niklaus," he murmured quietly.
Klaus looked to Caroline who nodded. "We will find her," Caroline assured Elijah who refused to look at her. He walked out of the room. "Klaus, go watch your brother. Don't let him do anything stupid," she ordered her boyfriend who hesitated but had no choice but to do what she told him to do.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Caroline ran her hands through her hair, feeling miserable and frightened. "You okay, love?" Enzo called from his place several feet away. He walked over and placed an arm around Caroline's shoulder who buried her face in his shirt and began to cry. She had no idea what she was doing here.
"There, there. You'll find the girl. Save the day. And that lot will love you more for it," Enzo told her, making Caroline smile.
When Tyler grunted on the floor, Caroline got up and kneeled in front of him. "Tyler? Are you awake?" she called, smacking him lightly on the cheek.
"One more minute, mom," Tyler moaned, curling up in a ball. His head rotated and Caroline saw the amount of blood running down the side of his face.
"Damn," Caroline groaned, ripping open her wrist, she yanked Tyler up, into a sitting position and shoved her wrist into his mouth. His eyes snapped open with a look of shock and dawning horror. "Drink!" she hissed at him, feeling her fangs still on display.
Tyler began to gulp her blood down. "Slow it down, mate," Enzo called from his position on the guest bed. Caroline glanced at him. He laid on the bed, propping himself up with one elbow and a smirk made him look kind of handsome. Not that Caroline cared because she had a boyfriend. Or she would have a boyfriend if he weren't sired to her.
"Stop!" Caroline snapped at Tyler who pulled away, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"That's not as gross as I thought it might be," Tyler said, licking the remaining blood off his lips. "What happened?" he asked them.
"You don't remember. Now, that I find hard to believe," Enzo scoffed. "Or maybe a bit of good old-fashioned torture will refresh your memory," he added, speeding over and grabbing Tyler in a headlock.
"No!" Caroline shot to her feet, her fists up, ready to fight Enzo, if she had to. "There has been enough bloodshed today." Looking at Tyler, she added. "You need to tell me anything that you do remember from before we got here."
"Liv told me that we had to find Hayley. She was in trouble. Something about her baby was some kind of magical homing beacon to some kind of evil spirit, according to her coven. They wanted Liv to find Hayley, to protect her and to keep her from whoever was after her. And then there was something about threes but I don't remember what the three was about. That part is fuzzy. Like someone wanted me to forget that part." Tyler shook his head. "Sorry. That's all I've got." Looking around, she frowned. "Where's Liv?"
"I say we still torture him, just for good measure," Enzo commented when Caroline gave him a long and steady glare. "Fine. We will hold off on the torture bit. For now." He walked toward the door and Caroline followed him with long, determined strides.
"Wait! I'm coming with you!" Tyler moved to follow them out of the room when Caroline stopped, placing a hand on his chest.
"Ty, I know that you care about Liv, but you need to let us take care of this. Okay? Maybe she'll come back and need your help. What if you weren't here?" Caroline watched Tyler's face cloud over.
"Promise me that you won't hurt her or let that," Tyler pointed at Enzo, "hurt her either."
Enzo grinned, letting his fangs pop out and Tyler's fangs popped out. Caroline stepped between them, holding the two men away from each other. "Stop! We're wasting valuable time here," Caroline snapped, looking from Enzo to Tyler. Enzo relaxed his position first. Tyler took a step back inside the room. "I won't let anyone hurt Liv," Caroline promised Tyler, not adding that she might not have a choice if someone else had the witch in question.
"Thanks," Tyler grunted, going over to look out the window. Caroline wished she could say something that would comfort him but she had nothing to take Elijah's pain away.
Hurrying back down the stairs, Caroline found Klaus' prone body on the floor. "What the hell?" she yelled.
"Elijah hit him with a bloody fire poker and took off. Kol went with him!" Rebekah said. She sat beside Klaus' body with tears on her cheeks and anger in her eyes. Caroline wondered if her former best friend blamed her for this, too.
"Come on. Let's get him into the car," Caroline ordered Enzo who helped her take Klaus out to the car. They got inside and she took a seat on the passenger side. "Now, everyone stay quiet. I need to concentrate."
"Stop giving me bloody orders!" Rebekah snarled, flopping back in her seat and folding her arms over her chest.
"Just shut up!" Caroline hissed, turning in her seat and glaring at Rebekah who reared back like Caroline had hit her. Falling back into her seat, Caroline closed her eyes, reaching for Hayley. She could feel the connection between them. She saw the other woman being carried into a cellar. She was placed inside a cell, manacles placed over her wrists and ankles. And then Hayley's head lolled to the side. Liv laid outside the cell, blood pouring out of her mouth before someone gave her a hard kick to the side, her body rolled into a wall. Hayley began to cry and then Caroline fell back into her body like someone had slammed a door in her face. "No!" she yelled, hitting the dashboard, feeling frustrated.
"What's wrong?" Rebekah demanded, leaning forward in her seat.
Gritting her teeth, Caroline stared through the windshield. "I have no damned idea where they are. I saw them. They're in some kind of cellar. And then…nothing." Shaking her head, Caroline felt bitter as she kicked the floor of the car.
"Steady, Gorgeous. No need to kill the vehicle," Enzo murmured, placing a hand on Caroline's knee. Caroline's eyes flicked to Rebekah's in a split second. Seeing Rebekah's eyes narrow and then her body fall backward, Caroline lifted Enzo's hand and placed it on his own knee. Enzo glanced at Caroline who refused to look back at him. She and Klaus had had enough with the Stefan fiasco; she wouldn't hurt him again even if they couldn't be together at the moment.
Trying to focus her thoughts, Caroline began to gnaw at her lower lip while Rebekah removed her phone. "Yes. She can't find anything. Hopefully Elijah is doing a better job at finding out stray wolf. Yes, I'll put her on. It's your boyfriend, you remember Niklaus, correct?" her words held an edge to them.
Caroline took the phone, pressing it to her ear. "Klaus?" she said breathlessly into the phone. "Hey, I tried to pick up something. But all I could get was a cellar."
"What if Father found them? We have a cellar," Klaus said excitedly.
"Yes, and so do millions of other people around the bloody world." Rebekah scoffed, looking out one of the window in the back of the car.
Klaus let out a heavy sigh. "Perhaps the person who took Hayley did not go far. Perhaps they're right under our bloody noses," he muttered and then it dawned on Caroline.
"Enzo, turn the car around. We're going back to the Lockwood Estate," she cried, looking over her shoulder, back at the road leading to the main house. They had a cellar. What if Klaus was right? What if Hayley was right under their noses?
Enzo whirled the car around, in a wide U-turn, sending up a cloud of dust. He sped back toward the house. Caroline jumped out of the car while it was still moving. She landed in a crouch. Getting to her feet, she ran as fast as she could with Enzo and Rebekah hot on her heels. Stopping in front of the cellar door, Caroline tucked her hair behind her ear, listening. She heard three heartbeats. Two steady and one of them weak. Ripping the door open, Caroline entered the cellar, ready for a fight. Her feet moved down the stairs and she yanked a locked door open with little effort although a chain kept it closed.
Rebekah let out a cry when she spotted Hayley. She tried to enter the cellar first but slammed into something solid. "There's a spell keeping us out," Caroline said. She sensed it before Rebekah attempted to step through it. "Liv? Can you hear me?"
"She's out cold," Hayley called to them weakly. She crawled on all fours to the front of the cage her captor had placed her in.
"Who put you in there?" Rebekah demanded, checking the boundary spell for weak points while Caroline stood at attention.
"I don't know. He wore a mask," Hayley moaned, wrapping an arm around her middle. HE knocked Tyler out and then did something to Liv. She just started screaming in pain. He wants the baby. I could see his eyes on me, on her. He wants her!" Hayley told them, tears running down her cheeks. "Please! You have to get me out of here!" Caroline felt her stomach turn. She hated seeing her friend this weak.
"We will," Caroline promised Hayley. "Enzo, I need you to find someone. Her name is Bonnie Bennett. She's a powerful witch and one of my friends. Tell her I sent you and that Hayley is in danger."
Enzo seemed reluctant to leave but listened to Caroline's directions of how to find Bonnie before he left. As they sat, waiting for the vampire to return, Elijah came running down the steps. "Hayley!" he thundered, slamming into the barrier spell. He fell backwards with an angry growl. Getting to his feet, he hit the barrier with a closed fist.
"Elijah!" Hayley cried from her cage. "Elijah, calm down!" she cried, placing her hand outside of the cage. Elijah placed his hand to the barrier.
"Did Klaus call you and tell you where we were?" Caroline asked.
"No!" Elijah shook his head. "I felt her! She's my mate!" he cried, pressing his hand more firmly against the barrier. "I would find you anywhere in the world!" he swore to Hayley. "If I had just forced myself to calm down, I would have found you before this monster locked you away. I'm sorry I failed you, my love."
"You didn't fail me, Elijah. You're here and the baby is okay. We'll get through this. I promise you," Hayley said, pressing her arm through the bars in the cage until she hissed in pain and anger.
"Be careful," Elijah called to Hayley.
Liv began to wake up. She looked groggy and pale. "Shit," she moaned, placing a hand to her head wound. "How the hell did that happen? And where in the hell are we?" she looked around before her gaze landed on Caroline. Raising a hand, she presumably meant to send Caroline, Elijah and Rebekah flying when nothing happened. "Shit!" Liv swore.
"No kidding," Hayley grumbled, sinking down to a sitting position.
"Liv, can you get this barrier spell down?" Caroline asked the witch.
"Excuse me, do I know you or something?" Liv demanded, an eyebrows rising.
"No. But I know Tyler. I'm Caroline Forbes. And that is my friend in there," Caroline snapped, pointing at Hayley. "And since this is all your fault, I think, maybe, you could, I don't know, get her the hell out of there? How 'bout you?"
Liv's jaw dropped as she came to stand in front of the barrier, still looking drawn as she pressed a hand to the barrier, examining Caroline. "Huh. I thought you'd look more powerful or something for the alpha of her pack. And you, you have no idea who you are or what role you play in any of this, do you?" Letting out a chuckle, Liv placed a hand to her head and winced. "That really does hurt."
"What are you going on about?" Rebekah demanded, glaring at Liv.
"And you are?" Liv inquired.
"Rebekah bloody Mikaelson. Charmed, I'm sure," Rebekah snapped with a curl of her lip.
"Rebekah?" Liv let out a harsh laugh. "Great, the triad's all here. It's like being at a party for sitting ducks down here," she called to someone or something. She let out a bitter laugh before her body began to sway. "Oh, man, I do not feel good. I need to take a nap."
"No. You cannot take a nap," Caroline yelled at the witch whose eyes began to open and close. "Tell us about the…triad?" she felt confused by the words.
"There are three. Always three. You're born again and again and again. But you die. Again and again and again. He can't finish his work because you just keep dying on him. But, now, you're back. You always find each other. Always." Liv looked sleepy. "I'm sorry. I have to go to bed now. I'll explain later." Her body slumped to the ground and Caroline punched the barrier. Shadow of the wolf? Triad? What the hell did any of this mean? Who were the three? Dying over and over again? Why did everyone have to talk in frickin' riddles all the time? Caroline pressed her head against the barrier, groaning in rage.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Caroline kicked the barrier, feeling not even the tiniest of budges. This was beyond ridiculous and she thought she would scream. Two pairs of footsteps came flying down the stairs, Caroline turned to meet them, her fangs springing outward, her claws extending, ready to strike. Enzo held up his hands while Bonnie took in the situation. "Hey," Bonnie greeted Caroline soberly without blinking at Caroline's hybrid features.
The young witch turned to the barrier, placing her hands on it and closing her eyes. They watched as she began to chant, calling on her ancestors to help her. Enzo seemed impressed with her as he stood to the side; watching her work. Caroline smiled grimly when Bonnie's hands dropped to her sides. "Is it down?"
"One way to find out," Rebekah said, walking up to the barrier and then running to Hayley who sat, looking up at them with hopeful eyes.
Elijah came running behind his sister, reaching between the bars for Hayley's hands, clutching them tightly in his own. "I'm here. I'm here," he told the wolf girl as she cried in relief.
"It's only down temporarily. I don't have the juice to keep it down," Bonnie told them. "You have to hurry!"
"Rebekah, get out of there. Now!" Caroline shouted at Rebekah who turned to glare at her.
Elijah also turned to look back at Caroline with an air of defiance. "I'm not leaving Hayley's side again."
Taking a deep breath, Caroline entered the cellar. She moved so quickly Rebekah and Elijah barely registered her presence before the female Mikaelson and then the male hit the wall just outside the cellar door. "And stay out!" she shouted at them, emitting a snarl.
Rebekah tried to get back inside but Enzo grabbed her, holding on tightly while she struggled. Elijah had been knocked out cold. Turning to Hayley, Caroline grabbed the bars of the cage and yanked them till the other girl could climb out. "Thank you," Hayley whispered hoarsely.
"Thank me later. Get out of here," Caroline said, shoving her toward the entrance. Hayley walked through, taking her place at Elijah's side, pulling his head into her lap. "Liv?" Caroline called, moving to the unconscious witch's side. Listening to her pulse rate, she found that it had slowed to a crawl. She ripped her wrist open, forcing it to Liv' lips. "Drink. Damn it," she growled. Liv drank a little and her eyelids fluttered.
"Care, it's time to go!" Bonnie called, feeling in front of her. Everyone looked to Caroline who grabbed Liv under the arm, yanking her floppy limb over her shoulder and speeding to the entryway when Bonnie let out a cry of dismay. In a split second Enzo sped past the barrier which had begun to form once more. He flung Liv at Bonnie, sending both witches to the ground.
"Shit!" Caroline shouted, kicking the barrier that had come up, stronger than ever. It was a frickin' trap. But why? And why her? What did whoever had captured her want from her anyway?
"We'll get you out of there," Bonnie swore while Enzo glared at the invisible barrier.
"Just my luck. Get out of one prison to get locked into another one," the Brit muttered to himself.
Klaus came running down the stairs with Kol hot on his heels. "Thanks for throwing me out of the bloody car, brother!" Kol yelled at Elijah who had just come to.
Standing outside the barrier, Klaus placed a hand on it, staring at Caroline who held up a hand. They stared at each other, not needing words, both fearful of what this meant. "I love you," Caroline mouthed.
"I love you, too," Klaus mouthed back, pressing his lips to the barrier. Caroline leaned forward, pressing her lips to the only thing separating them at the moment. She could almost feel him and wondered if this would be their last kiss before she died.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
Jessica