Days passed, maybe a week, maybe more, with me lost in a booze and blood haze. As long as I could drown myself in my own vampire cocktail, I could deal with the pain. I was free to remember kisses in the rain, dances in front of the fireplace, afternoons cuddling on the couch, summer road trips to nowhere, every happy moment that Elena and I had ever shared. That worked until my supplies started to run low.
Facing an unwelcome return to reality, I dragged myself from my bed and dressed, skipping the shower and shave. Nothing mattered but finding my way back to oblivion. Nothing mattered. At. All. I stumbled around the piles of empties littering the floor, wondering who I could compel to arrange for weekly care package deliveries so I wouldn't have to leave the house again. I knew that outside the walls of the boarding house, the world had gone on as if nothing had changed. But, my world had begun to spin out of control the moment Jeremy's heart was delivered to us. And it crashed and burned the moment I drove a stake through Elena's. Leaving the house was just another reminder that I didn't need.
Boots on, keys in my pocket, on my way out the door, I checked my phone, purely out of habit, not because I expected to hear from anyone. There was no one left. After powering up my phone, the first thing I saw was the text from Klaus, the picture of Tyler's beheaded body. In my somewhat sober state, I got mad, angry, furious, even. Tyler was dead and I wasn't the one to deal his death blow. Klaus had. From there, my fury only multiplied. Klaus was living(ish) and Elena was (forever) dead.
Just as I started to throw my phone through the nearest wall, I saw the unread text icon. Switching between texts, it took a minute for the name to make the right connection in my bourbon-boggled brain. Cecile, my NOLA witch, had tried to check in with me days earlier.
Hey, are we still doing this? All the pieces are in place. Just need your ass here. - Cecile
How had I forgotten? We had big plans, desiccation and a deep sea adventure for Klaus. He had only let me walk away because I said I would drop my revenge plan against him. The hell with that! I had nothing to lose. I had already lost it all. But now, now I had a purpose. It was way past time to get my shit together and take care of Klaus. My fingers tapped out a quick reply to Cecile.
Sorry for the delay. Family business to take care of. On my way now. Don't forget to get some additional vamp manpower. My army of one won't be able to take down The Hybrid King. - DS
For the first time since Elena's death, I had a focus, a place to channel all of my energy, most importantly, a person on whom I could unleash all of my rage. Bypassing the liquor store, I stopped at the nearest blood bank to stock up. If I was going to do my part in taking Klaus down, I would have to be at my strongest. I planned to mainline AB negative all the way to New Orleans.
Upon my late night arrival in New Orleans, I met with Cecile and the vampires that she had recruited. Apparently, Klaus wasn't such a popular guy in town, and there had been plenty of volunteers for the job. The vamps she had chosen were all older ones, some older than me. Good to know that she wasn't relying on baby vamps to get this done. No way they would have been strong enough. After giving my stamp of approval, we got down to business, fine tuning our plan. If everything went according to plan, in less than twenty-four hours, Klaus would be nothing more than a memory.
After agreeing to a time and place to meet the following night, I left. I walked to my hotel, bypassing bar after bar, even though I wanted nothing more to drown myself in bottle after bottle of some top shelf bourbon. I tried not to think of my last trip to the Quarter, less than two weeks earlier and I was sure the bourbon would help with that. I couldn't give in, though. I needed to be on my best game when we faced Klaus. I owed it to Elena to hold myself together until then. I gave myself permission to fall apart once I had dumped his body in the Gulf, not one second before.
Back at my hotel, I stripped, showered and collapsed on the bed. I had hoped for a dreamless, restful sleep. Instead, visions of Elena danced in my head the whole time I slept. When I woke, I wasn't sure which was worse, not thinking of her at all or thinking only of her.
I arrived at the prearranged spot just after nightfall. The vamp volunteers were already there, boosting my confidence in them just a hair. They had already disposed of the hybrids guarding the compound, the blood on their hands the only evidence. We stood in the shadows, waiting.
Approaching footsteps caught my attention. When I looked up, Cecile spared me a glance as she passed by with her witch posse. Falling into step behind them, we walked down the block to the Mikaelson compound. The vamps and I stood just outside the gate while the witches strolled in as if they owned the place. I listened, waiting for Klaus's indignant explosion at the intrusion, for our cue, for anything other than the near silence that was coming from the courtyard.
We all know that I've never been a patient man. The not knowing what was happening got to me within a minute or two. I strode boldly into the courtyard, followed by our vamps-for-hire. The scene I found there was puzzling, to say the least.
Instead of finding Klaus reigning in all of his self-appointed glory, I found a mere shadow of the man. He was pacing the width of the courtyard, curled in on himself, occasionally stumbling on the cobblestones. His constant muttering was almost indecipherable. I could only make out one name – Caroline. I had thought that Elijah's death was his tipping point. I was wrong. It seemed that in his thousand year existence, he had finally committed the one atrocity that he regretted, that he couldn't forgive himself for – killing Caroline.
Klaus had been plunged into madness, completely unaware of anything going on around him. Movement on the edge of the courtyard caught my eye as our human volunteer walked out into the open, stopped dead center of the area, and laid down flat on her back. Klaus paid no attention as the witches took their positions, one over the woman on the ground, the others surrounding them, providing a wall of protection.
I warily approached Klaus, waiting for a switch to flip in his brain, for him to realize the danger standing right in front of him. The other vamps took their places behind Klaus, ready to restrain him on my order. I took a final look around, waiting for someone to stop what was about to happen. That's when I realized the entire compound seemed deserted. I assumed that Rebekah was lurking somewhere. Knowing her, Sexy Bex would have a moment of conscience and stop us right before we could finish the spell, no matter how much she feared for her life.
I nodded at the vamps and stepped in as they grabbed Klaus's arms, holding him still. With an angry growl, I buried my hand in his chest, making the necessary contact with his blood. The wind swirled around the courtyard as the witches chanted their spell. For a brief instant, I saw a look of fear in his eyes, quickly followed by resignation and acceptance. Maybe he felt he deserved it for what he had done to Caroline. I didn't give a damn. I only thought of Elena as Klaus began to turn gray, his veins prominent against his skin. I felt his heart slow until it was still. I waited another moment, to be sure it was really done and pulled my hand from his chest.
I stepped back, my chest heaving. I told myself to get it together. My job wasn't done. There was a fishing boat waiting to take Klaus on a midnight cruise and it was my job to get him there. Out of seemingly nowhere, a SUV backed into the courtyard. The hatch was thrown revealing a casket and the biggest tangle of chains I had ever seen. The vamps must have been briefed, because they began to wrap the chains around Klaus's body over and over again. It wasn't the first time I had seen his body like that, but it would be the last. I'd make sure of that.
Before I could process it all, Klaus was in the casket and loaded in the SUV. I took my place in the passenger seat when Cecile appointed herself my driver. She fully intended to see this to the end, including the voyage out to sea. Strangely enough, I was okay with that. Maybe I just needed a witness, someone to tell me it was really over.
Six hours and two bottle of bourbon later, the fishing boat pulled up to the dock. We had gone way out into the Gulf, as far as the captain was willing to go. With a heave up onto the side rail and a push overboard, Klaus was out of my life. I couldn't help but wish that it had happened years earlier. Maybe then Elena would still be by my side.
I hopped onto the dock, gave Cecile a nod, and began walking back to my hotel with one thought on a loop.
What next?