Because I hate Elena so much, it had given me an author's block. Lol and not to mention TVD's episodes are uninspiring to my story. And does anybody miss Cassandra?
I don't own any of the TVD's characters. I only own my OCs; Ada, Cassandra and of course, our beloved Vanessa Gilbert.
Chapter 23: The Originals
"These images tell a story...to learn the story, you have to decipher these images," Alaric said, looking at the pictures spread out on the table in front of us.
"Yeah, I figured that much," I said dryly and he rolled his eyes at me.
"'Ghost of Christmas Past' Mason Lockwood set up the cave and led us to a weapon that can kill Klaus," Damon said as he disarmed Elena once again.
"Yeah, but doesn't Mikael have a weapon?" Elena asked and I refrained myself from rolling my eyes.
"Which means the wall will probably lead us to him, who we have already found and lost," I reminded them, sending a pointed look to Damon. "I told you he can't be trusted."
"Well, he was our only chance," he reminded me and easily disarmed Elena for the umpteenth time. "Bang! You're dead!" he said and pretended to bite her neck.
"These images at the very least might tell us what that weapon is," Ric said and I pursed my lips. Ada knew what the weapon was, but she made it pretty clear that she didn't want Klaus dead. Could be some kind of dagger or perhaps just a special stake?
"Then all we have to do is find out what they mean," Elena said, walking to the table. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"If I am being irritatingly optimistic like you, how do you suppose we do that?" Damon asked.
"Well, if the story is about the Original family living here, then we go straight to the source," she said and I burst out laughing.
"No offense, Elena. In case you didn't know, Rebekah hates you," I said and Alaric snorted while Elena glared at me. "A lot."
We watched Rebekah with the cheerleading squad from the car, and Elena turned to me. "Why don't you go talk to her?" Elena asked and I looked at her, eyebrow raised.
"Your idea, wasn't it?" I asked and she huffed.
"You said it yourself, she hates me. And for some reasons, she likes you better than me," Elena said and I smirked at her tone.
"Jealous?" I asked, slightly laughing before I looked at her sternly. "Couldn't stand that someone likes me better than you, huh? Of course, everyone had always love you more, preferred your company better than mine, since we were babies," I said mockingly and she looked at me, eyes wide.
"What's wrong with you?" Elena asked demandingly, and I climbed out from the car, taking a note not to slam the door too strongly.
"Maybe it's you," I said, shrugging. I glanced at Rebekah and turned to Elena lazily. "Good luck with Bekah," I said, walking away.
I needed some time to think. Lately, I had these dark feelings whenever I was with Elena. I wouldn't say I hate her, but…I couldn't stand her. Plus with what Ada had said, she made me realize how Elena had been controlling my life…indirectly.
"So, then who's rotting in that old cemetery in Charlotte?" I heard Elena's voice from the distance and I turned to look at them.
"If you wake Mikael, we are all doomed!" Rebekah hissed under her breath, although she appeared to be intimidating, the shakiness in her voice gave her fear away.
"So then tell me," Elena said.
"Why do you want to know?" Rebekah asked.
"Why don't you want me to wake him?" Elena asked and Rebekah remained silent for a moment.
"I need to get back to the girls," she said, before walking back to the girls, leaving Elena alone. I pursed my lips, analyzing the situation as I thought, before fixing the straps of my bags on my shoulder and walked away.
I need to get to Rebekah, before Elena could figure out what I was doing.
I didn't even hear the sound of her high heels clicking on the bathroom tiles as she entered. All I heard was the steady sound of the heartbeat of the guy I was drinking from. I retracted my fangs quickly when the stall door opened, and I rolled my eyes when I saw Rebekah standing before me, her arms crossed.
"What?" I asked, slightly annoyed.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," she said with a smirk, raising and eyebrow at the guy, Geoffrey who was in daze. I rolled my eyes and raised an eyebrow at her suggestively.
"Wanna share?" I asked, my lips curled into a smirk. Rebekah gave me a smile, a smile just like Klaus's that indicated she was just about to go rogue. Rebekah flashed over me, her hand wrapped around my throat, crushing my windpipe.
"What are you and your sister planning to do?" She asked threateningly and I tried to pry on her grip. But I had often been fooled by Rebekah's appearance. She was no seventeen year old girl, she was an Original vampire, whose strength was far beyond me.
"Well I can't talk with you crushing my windpipe, can I?" I asked, although it was barely audible. Rebekah's eye twitched and she released her grip on my throat. Looking at her angrily, I massaged my neck before clearing my throat.
"We want to wake Mikael," I said, lying straight into her face. But Rebekah was too afraid to catch my lie. Or maybe I was just a really good liar.
"Why?" she asked.
"Elena wants to kill Klaus," I said, trying not to look at her like she was dumb. "We found our weapon," I said and saw Rebekah's blue eyes turned red and dark veins appeared underneath them. I dodged passed her as she attacked and held up my hand.
"If you tell me why you are so afraid of your own father," I said quickly and loudly, not really caring if anyone heard us. Rebekah stopped, listening and fuming. "Just tell me why, and I'll consider it."
"You'll consider what?" She asked haughtily.
"Stop Mikael," I answered and her demeanor changed completely. I hid my smirk with a smile, looking into her blue eyes that were kind of the same shade as mine. "You know, I haven't got a dress yet for Homecoming," I said and Rebekah thought for a moment before nodding and deciding to trust me.
"So am I," she said and I nodded, smiling at her before taking my leave.
No words were exchanged regarding Mikael as we browsed through the racks. Like seriously. Almost an hour had passed and we had only commented about the dresses that we had picked.
"Alright! What is it that you want to know?" Rebekah asked, crossing her arms.
"I thought it would be better if we pick our dresses first," I said, shrugging. She gave me a hard look before I finally turned away from the dresses. "Why don't you tell me about your family?" I asked her softly.
"My parents had just started a family, when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate," Rebekah said after a while.
"And how did you guys end up here? This part of the world hadn't even been discovered yet at that time," I said and she laughed.
"Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the witch Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy...blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That lead my family here, where we lived amongst those people," Rebekah told.
"The werewolves?" I guessed and she nodded.
"To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over twenty years, during which time my family had more children, including me," she said. "Once a month our family retreated into the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night and by morning we'd return home..."
Rebekah picked up a royal blue dress and handed it to me. "Try that on, I think it'll look great on you," she said and I took the dress without questioning her. When I returned Rebekah was deep in her thought and I tapped her on the shoulder. "
"Here," I showed a green dress with silver sequin at the top and she smiled.
"You should've been there when I woke up. Nik was an artist but his fashion sense for women is terrible," she commented and I laughed as I followed her to the changing room.
"You are very close with Klaus, aren't you?" I asked as I admired a red dress.
"Yes," I heard her answered softly. "Always and forever," she said, laughing bitterly.
"What about your other siblings?" I asked and she slid the curtain open.
"Help me with this," she said and I nodded, entering the fitting room with her.
"How many do you have?" I asked. "Siblings," I said as she looked at me in confusion.
"I have five brothers, excluding the one who died in the Old World. Elijah, Finn, Nik and Kol…" she said.
"And Henrik," I said and she looked up in surprise, meeting my eyes through the mirror.
"Elijah told me about him. I'm sorry," I said as I pulled up the zipper. "I think it's beautiful," I commented and Rebekah gave me a tight smile.
"I think I want another color," she said and I nodded, walking back to the rack.
"What about red?" I asked as she approached me. "Red always looks good on us with beautiful blonde hair," I said, laughing slightly.
"Henrik's death was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors," Rebekah said as she held up a red dress. I shook my head at her choice and glanced at her.
"What happened next?"
"My parents begged Ayana to find a way with the spirits. She wouldn't help us. So my mother took it upon herself and turned us into vampires."
"Were you a witch?" I blurted out and Rebekah smiled at me.
"I was. A witch is a nature's servant and a vampire is an abomination of nature. You can either be one or the other, never both. My mother did this for us. She did not turn," Rebekah said.
"How exactly did you turn?" I asked.
"She called upon the sun for life, and the ancient white oak tree, one of nature's eternal objects, for immortality. That night, my father offered us wine laced with blood. And then he drove his sword through our hearts," Rebekah said and looked at me. "And he wasn't delicate about it either."
"Do you know it was Tatia's blood in the wine?" I asked.
"I did not care about that wench," she said. "Afterwards we had to drink more blood to complete the ritual. "It was euphoric! The feeling of power was indescribable. But the witch, Ayana was right about the consequences. The spirits turned on us, and nature fought back. For every strength there would be a weakness; the sun became our enemy. It kept us indoors for weeks and though my mother found a solution, there were other problems. Neighbors who had opened their homes to us could now keep us out. Flowers at the base of the white oak burned, and prevented compulsion. And the spell decreed that the tree that gave us life could also take it away..." she said and looked at me.
"So we burned it to the ground. But the darkest consequence was something my parents never anticipated...The hunger. Blood had made us reborn and it was blood that we craved above all else. We could not control it and with that, the predatory species was born..."
"What about this one?" Rebekah suddenly asked, showing me a lavender dress.
"It doesn't really suit you," I said and she rolled her eyes, her lips curled into a grin.
"It's for you," she said. I raised an eyebrow at her and took the dress, heading to the fitting room.
"What happened after that?" I called out and I heard Rebekah sighed.
"When Nik made his first human kill, it triggered his werewolf gene. With that, he became my father's greatest shame," she said and I nodded, looking at my reflection in the mirror.
"Then your mother put on the Hybrid curse on him?" I asked as I slipped out of the dress.
"She tried to make it right. But Mikael's greatest weakness as a human was his pride. As a vampire, that was magnified. He went on a rampage and killed half the village. Then he came home and killed her," she said.
"He killed her?" I asked, stepping out of the fitting room.
"He said she broke his heart so he would break hers. He tore it from her chest as Nik watched," Rebekah said and took a deep breath. "Which want?" she asked, holding up two dresses.
"The red one," I said and she gave me a smile.
"You hate blue, why is that?" she asked and I looked at her incredulously.
"I don't hate blue," I said as she closed the curtain. "Maybe a little bit," I muttered under my breath. I didn't know since when, but the color blue reminded me of Cassandra. Perhaps it was the eye color. Huh.
"Afterwards, my father took off in a rage," Rebekah said from inside the fitting room. The rest of my family scattered. Nik stayed, so he could help me bury her. He knew I had to say goodbye to my mother," she said and I leaned against the wall, waiting for more.
"That's when we made the pact, 'Always and Forever'. Along with Elijah," Rebekah told me and slid the curtain opened. "What do you think?"
"I told you we look best in red," I said and she smiled. Rebekah paid for the dress and turned to me.
"Fun time is over," she said and I tilted my head to the side.
"We are not even close," I said. "Jewelry, shoes, oh, trust me. We're gonna spend a lot of time with the shoes," I said as I led her to the shop.
"What else do you want to know?" she asked me, stopping in her tracks and I turned around to look at her. She was just a girl. Just like me. But perhaps with a bigger family drama.
"I asked you about your family to find one good reason not to wake Mikael," I said.
"And I've given you a thousand! But you and your pesky little sister are going to wake him anyway!"
"I met someone from your past," I said, a little louder than her voice to stop her from talking. "Ada, my doppelganger. She begged me not to let Mikael kill Klaus."
Rebekah seemed so surprised at this more than I was. "And just as I had told her, I can't control what my sister wants to do. Everyone sides with her. Even if I don't want Mikael to kill your brother, I cannot stop her from waking him up," I said and Rebekah closed her eyes. When she opened those cerulean blue eyes again, they were gleaming like crystals with the tears welling in her eyes.
"Ada was Nik's one true love. He loved her with all his heart, with his life. When Mikael killed her, Nik was ruined. He wasn't himself anymore. He grieved for years, decades…" Rebekah said shakily. "My brother had done terrible things. We all have."
"I know," I said, smiling lightly as I took her hand. "Now let's go find our shoes first," I said, dragging her to the shop. Rebekah had somehow allowed me to relay this information she had told me to Elena and Alaric who were trying to figure out what else did the drawings mean.
When Rebekah and I arrived at Salvatore Boarding House, I spotted Elena's ride and tensed.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, as I saw Elena with her back turned to me.
"Rebekah doesn't know the real story," she said to me and turned to Rebekah.
"What now?" she asked, already irritated by my sister.
"How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?" she asked.
"Nik was there. He told me," Rebekah answered.
"He lied to you," Elena said determinedly.
"Elena-"
"And how do you know that?" Rebekah asked, slightly laughing.
"The cave where you carved your family's names is covered in symbols," Elena said, laying out the pictures of the drawings on the table. "The story of your family: how your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this," she pointed at a picture. "This is the symbol for hybrid. It's a combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother," Elena pointed at the picture of the drawing of her necklace.
"Her necklace," Rebekah said, recognizing it immediately.
"And this is the story of her death," she said, laying out a picture with the witch and there was a hybrid symbol next to it. "The hybrid killed the Original Witch. Not Mikael. Klaus," Elena said.
"No, no! He wouldn't!" Rebekah muttered in denial and I took a sharp breath.
"She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah. And then he made up this entire lie about your father, so that he wouldn't lose you," Elena continued and I placed a hand on her shoulder, gripping it tightly.
"Stop it," I hissed under my breath.
"These mean nothing! They're just stupid drawings, done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!" Rebekah yelled angrily and threw the pictures into the fireplace.
"Then why are you so upset?" Elena asked.
"Why are you doing this to me? I've done nothing to you!" Rebekah yelled angrily and desperately.
"Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop!" Elena said and Rebekah slammed her against the wall, her vampire face was out. I did nothing, knowing Elena had pushed Rebekah over the edge, and now she was on our side. I heaved a sigh, as I walked silently towards Rebekah who had let Elena go.
"You've got what you want. Now leave," I said, and Elena looked at me for a moment, before finally leaving.
"Shhh," I said, pulling Rebekah into an embrace. She sobbed harder as I stroked her back and hair calmingly.
"I've stood by him for a thousand years. Turns out he was lying all along. I…" I shushed her, and felt my own eyes welling up with hot tears. The most terrible feeling in this world would be being betrayed by your loved ones. And I know exactly how that felt.
"So how did it go?" Mikael looked up from his drink to the owner of the voice who slipped into the bar stool next to him.
"They'll bring him back to Mystic Falls," he answered, taking a sip from his drink. "After all these years, you're still here, whispering information about my son," he said and Cassandra chuckled.
"What can I say? I want him dead," she said with a soft smile as Mikael poured her a drink.
"And he shall be," Mikael promised and Cassandra looked at the Original vampire sternly.
"You said he would be dead centuries ago. Again and again and again, you failed…" she said, shaking her head. "I'm tired."
"This time it would be different," Mikael told her. "I have those Salvatore boys as my pawns," he said.
"This time, you have to succeed," she said and Mikael nodded.
"Don't worry about that. All in good time," he said and raised his glass at the doppelganger.
"There's one more thing. I need a favor," she said and Mikael raised an eyebrow at her.
"With all the things you had done for me in the past, ask away."
"My doppelganger. I want her dead as well," Cassandra said and Mikael chuckled softly.
"And for what reasons? I do not wish to harm those who would help me," he said.
"She's Niklaus's leverage. I'd say killing two vampires with one stake," Cassandra said with a smirk and Mikael laughed.
"Alright then. Consider it done," he said and Cassandra smiled, clinking her glass with Mikael's.