Chapter 7: Throwing the Gauntlet
*****Where We Left Off*****
Mohinder tried to grab Buffy in a chokehold, but she easily dodged his charge. The audience wasn't amused as a growing sense of anxiety filled the air. It increased when Buffy slammed her fist into his face so hard that he hit three vamps, knocking them down. The tangle of bodies kept him from getting on his feet quickly enough. Buffy was there, though, and she picked Mohinder up over her head—now she had the audience riveted and horrified.
How was she so strong? She wasn't a vampire.
Buffy could sense the growing danger and threw the vampire through the wall. A giant body-sized hole could be seen. Deciding to end the fight before someone tried to interfere, she jumped through the hole after him. She started to punch him hard in the face when he kicked out, throwing her off him. Buffy rolled quickly and jumped up.
"This is going to end just one way. Your death," she said as she reached down for a broken piece of wood and raised it. "If you want to die, keep coming at me."
"I do not fear death," Mohinder said coldly.
"You should. The fact that you don't survive on human blood makes me reluctant to kill you, and it means you might escape one of the worst hell dimensions that are out there," she told him.
"Hell? There is no hell. Just the Other Side. It's not so bad," Mohinder scoffed and stepped toward her.
"Someone's been lying to you. I've been to a hell dimension. Had a boyfriend escape another one. Believe me, there are places of torment," Buffy said.
Mohinder charged her anyway, knocking her back through the hole.
Buffy wasn't surprised by the move and had her makeshift stake ready, plunging it up as they fell. His body was impaled as he fell on top of her.
Buffy moved him off her and stood, glaring at the stunned vampires looking at her. Mohinder, one of their best fighters, was dead.
"That was a waste. He didn't have to die," she said. Her gaze swept through the audience. "None of you do."
"I don't know about that, my dear," Elijah said, holding out his hand to her. She took it and let him pull her to his side. "My sireline is both arrogant and stubborn."
Klaus and Lucien pushed their way through the crowd. He grinned at Buffy as he took in the scene and the two dead vampires. He knew that his brother hadn't done the work. "My future sister-in-law is making friends everywhere she goes, I see," he observed with a chuckle.
Lucien glanced at the dead vampires, recognizing them both. His gave Buffy a look of respect and said nothing. He did note, however, Klaus's public claiming of Buffy.
"Some vampires don't know when to back off or shut up," Buffy said crossly.
Now Klaus laughed out loud. Tristan didn't like what he was seeing as Klaus was too easy with this human. Tristand could also see that Elijah was unconcerned. This wasn't good. He could see his careful plans starting to unravel.
Klaus cast a look of disdain over the crowd. "You know, I used to find it insulting that I was barred from your special little club. But now, I realize that I lack the flexibility to become a member—I could never get my head far enough up my own ass," he said.
Now it was Buffy's turn to laugh in amusement. "They do seem a bit pretension," she observed.
"That's an understatement," Elijah said. "Tristan, if you and your group want to survive, I suggest you leave town and stop the petty squabbling."
"The news of the distance between my big brother and me was sorely exaggerated," Klaus added. "No one is going to divide us. Nothing can destroy the Mikaelson family. As you can see, we have aligned ourselves with someone as powerful as we are, who can't be destroyed."
"She's also immune to magical attacks," Lucien added, looking at Buffy with interest. She was a real problem.
"I'm immune to a lot of things. The common cold, too," she said with a grin.
Hayley spoke for the first time. "I have a daughter in this town. If this fighting disturbs or endangers her in any way, I'll kill all of you myself," she said, glaring at both Lucien and Tristan.
"You'll try," Lucien said.
Buffy stepped toward him. She really hated this vampire. "I'll succeed," she threatened. "I don't care if Klaus has a fondness for you. I don't take orders from him. This little feud between the sire lines needs to end, or I'll end it."
Before Tristan could form a reply, Willow appeared next to Buffy. "What did I miss?" she asked.
The casual display of magical power, startled the group, and murmuring broke out. Tristan looked at Lucien, who was clearly wary at the new arrival.
"The party crashers are growing tiresome, Elijah," Tristan said.
Buffy glared at the rude vampire and turned to smile at her best friend. "I love the dress, Will. Where's Freya?" she asked.
"Klaus has her doing something," Willow said, looking at the grinning Original, who looked too pleased with himself.
"As you can see," Elijah began, "we have very powerful friends."
"Not that we need help killing the lot of you," Klaus interjected with a curl of his lip.
"Tristan, the attacks on my brother and sister's sire lines need to end," Elijah said.
"Or I will end you," Buffy added, stepping forward. "I have an entire army of slayers at my disposal. They don't normally kill your kind of vampire, but I can make that change. I'll have you and your group hunted to the ends of the earth."
"She's not lying," Elijah added. He looked at the Strix, who seemed more shaken than ever.
Tristan didn't like not knowing everything. It was clear that he was at a distinct disadvantage. "I am not here to start trouble but to protect my sire," Tristan said.
"He has all the protection he needs. If anyone wants to hurt him, they'll have to get through me," Buffy said grimly. "Leave town before I slay you."
"She is the vampire slayer," Klaus said with a smirk. His phone beeped, distracting him. He pulled it out and read Freya's message. Then he looked at Lucien. "Freya found her."
"Who was missing?" Tristan asked.
"Alexis," Lucien said. "If you've hurt her in any way, I'll kill you!" He glared at Tristan and then turned to leave. Klaus followed after him, pausing at Marcel. "The seer of Lucien's it at our house. She has a warning for us." Marcel nodded and followed the duo out of the room.
"So what will it be, Tristan?" Elijah asked. "Klaus doesn't need to be here to kill you. Buffy and I can do it quite easily."
"And me," Hayley added, glaring at him.
"Of course," Elijah said, smiling at her.
"I'll just make it clear," Willow said, holding up her hand and breaking the necks of all the vampires in the room with her power. The compelled humans looked horrified as bodies fell and ran from the room. Tristan looked more than a little alarmed.
"Do we need to continue?" Elijah asked Tristan.
"I will have them leave when they rouse," Tristan said in resignation. Time to pull back and regroup. The new allies of the Mikaelsons were formidable.
"That's good because I don't want to get blood on this dress. It's already got a tear," Buffy said, looking down at it with a pout.
"Let's go home," Hayley suggested.
"We'll see you there," Buffy said with a wink. She grabbed Willow's hand, and the two of them disappeared.
"I will never get used to that," Hayley said. "Willow is stronger than your aunt was."
"But sane," Elijah said. "Tristan, great party." He gave his former friend a smug smile as Hayley took his arm, and they walked out of the room, stepping around the bodies.
Tristan pulled out his phone, dialing his sister. It went straight to voicemail.
"Sister, don't come to New Orleans. It's too dangerous. Call me as soon as you can," he told her. The last thing he wanted was Aurora facing off with those two women. The slayer wouldn't hesitate to kill his insane sister. He couldn't let that happen.
*****Mikaelson Compound*****
When they made it back to their home, Klaus went to check on his daughter, who was being watched by Rebekah up in her room. Everyone else stayed downstairs. Willow wanted to see the seer who had Klaus so concerned.
"How is she?" Klaus asked, taking Hope from Rebekah.
"A perfect angel as always," Rebekah said, smiling at her niece. She was surprised to see Marcel. "Hello, Marcel. What brings you here?"
"He was the guest of honor at a party the Strix were holding," Klaus shared. "They tried to recruit him. I don't know what he was thinking."
"I was thinking that I'm not going to sit around and wait for you to let things get worse. It's called being proactive," Marcel said defensively.
"I cannot believe that you let the Strix draw you into their web," Klaus said to Marcel, giving him a disappointed look.
"Whoever comes after you is coming after me," Marcel reminded him. "You die. I die."
Before Klaus could respond, a tired-looking Freya walked into the room to talk to Klaus. "She's awake," she said to Klaus, who nodded. Klaus handed his daughter back to Rebekah. Then he walked toward the door, pausing at Marcel's side.
"Yes, whoever comes for me may very well come for you. But, they may also come through you, Marcellus," Klaus said, putting his hand on Marcel's shoulder. "Remember that. It would pain me to lose you to an enemy." Then he followed Freya out of the room, leaving a surprised Marcel staring after him.
"He loves you, Marcel," Rebekah assured him. "He just has trouble showing it sometimes."
Marcel didn't know what to say about that. "You've always been too good for him," he said.
"He's my brother. He was your father," she reminded him. "Come and hold your sister."
Marcel felt overwhelmed by both Klaus's words and Rebekah's, but he was never able to resist a kid and picked up Hope, who smiled up at him, patting his cheek.
Downstairs, Lucien was sitting next to Alexis on the couch, while Klaus, Hayley, Elijah, and Freya are standing around them. Buffy and Willow are watching from across the room.
Alexis gave Lucien a look of regret. "I'm sorry. I hoped I was wrong, Lucien. I really did. But I saw it. I saw him die," she said, looking at Klaus.
Klaus sighed and closed his eyes, not at all happy with this news.
"Did you see the weapon?" Lucien asked.
Alexis nodded in response.
"What is it?" He inquired.
"To understand, it must be seen," she replied. She smiled weakly at Lucien, who looked confused. Klaus was suspicious and glanced at Willow for help.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked.
Alexis held out her wrist to Hayley, who sat down next to her on the couch. Lucien got up and allowed Elijah to sit down in his place.
"Please tell me that you're not going to do what I think you're going to do," Buffy said in disapproval and disgust.
"It's the only way they can see," Alexis defended, holding her other wrist up to Elijah.
Elijah gave his lover an apologetic look as he glanced at Hayley, who nodded.
Hayley and Elijah look at each other warily before they each bite into Alexis' offered wrists and began to feed.
Alexis threw her head backward as her eyes rolled back into her head as the visions began. Like the other visions, the first flash was of a page from a grimoire with a spell and several pentacles were written on the parchment. Then, the vision cut to the dining room of the Mikaelson compound, which appeared in disarray—it looked like a fight broke out during dinner because the chairs were overturned, broken glasses litter the table and floor, and the plates of food have been scattered over the bunched-up tablecloth.
The scene changed to another flash as they saw Freya dipping her fingers in the bowl of blood, and the scene of Elijah's painted portrait in the living room was dripping blood.
Another flash of Freya casting the spell and then there was the pieces of paper with Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah's names written in Elder Futhark Runic script catching on fire.
Quickly, the scene changed once again. Then there was a flash of Lucien's face, which looks serious at first before he smirks smugly. Another flash of the "beast" with extremely long and sharp fangs was seen as well before the vision erupts into flames.
"This needs to stop," Willow said as she saw that Alexis' nose had begun to bleed, and Hayley quickly stopped feeding on her, looking at the blood on her hands in fright.
Suddenly, Elijah threw up all the blood he had just drunk onto the floor, and Hayley looked sick as well as she tried to keep herself from throwing up as well. Buffy ran to his side, holding him up.
No one noticed the new visitor that entered the compound and was observing the scene with growing horror.
"Something's wrong," Hayley said.
Elijah looked up at Buffy, upset and more than a little afraid. "Poison," he gasped.
Alexis coughed and began to vomit large amounts of blood. Lucien, rushed to her, but the blood began to pour from her nose and mouth. "No! No! No!" Lucien exclaimed, horrified.
Alexis fell into his arms. He held her, checking for signs up life. When he found none, he continued yelling, "No! No! No!"
"What the hell is going on, Buffy? Will? What kind of horror show are you letting take place?" A new voice demanded.
Buffy looked up and Willow turned. Both exclaimed at the same time:
"Faith!"
*****To Be Continued*****
I couldn't resist bringing Faith in. I hope you're still enjoying this tale.
