Hey readers! What's up? The next chapter for NASB is here. Enjoy...
"Tell me, brother," Klaus began, "what have you been up to lately?" Elijah took a sip of water, setting the glass down gingerly as he finished.
"Just business here and there," Elijah replied. "How's the activity in the Quarter been since I've been gone?" The wait staff began to bring in the main course.
"Silent," Klaus chuckled, cutting into the steak on his plate. "I think those witches are finally learning to keep their noses out of Mikaelson business."
"It's about time." Elijah agreed before finally turning to Elena and Katherine. He could admit that he hadn't expected to see them here. He figured Katerina at least would steer clear of his brother—they've never really been able to get along after all these years. "So how is it that you two began traveling together," Elijah asked the doppelgangers conversationally, genuinely curious. "From what I remember, you two didn't get along well."
"Oh, there's no need to be so indirect brother," Klaus cut in. "They hated each other, so it's rather odd that you two would suddenly be found traveling together." He shot his brother an amused smirk before turning to the girls. "Go on, answer. I'm quite curious myself."
Katherine and Elena shared a look before Elena's gaze immediately shifted to the table, avoiding everyone's gaze. No one knew about her problem.
Only Katherine did.
Thinking back to that night brought back so much guilt and shame. If Katherine hadn't found her…things would've turned out much worse. Even worse than it already was. She would be forever grateful to Katherine for her help. Elena wouldn't have lasted this long without her.
"Elena here was a little lost when I found her," Katherine spoke slowly. "I offered to help her adjust as a vampire, and we've been traveling ever since." It was an easy explanation, albeit vague, and it wasn't exactly a lie. The threatening gleam in Katherine's dark brown eyes stopped the brothers from asking any further questions, but it was obvious to the elder doppelganger that this wouldn't be the last they would hear of this particular subject, much to her own annoyance. Why couldn't people just let things go?
"Hmm," Klaus hummed, "and what of the witch?" Elijah tilted his head to the side, looking between the three of them.
"Witch?" He asked.
"The doppelgangers came to tell me a witch had them linked to me as well as each other," Klaus explained, taking a sip of his drink. "Until we figure that all out, they'll be staying here."
"How is it you always manage to find your way into trouble while I'm away, Niklaus," Elijah sighed. He turned his focus back onto Elena. "How long ago was this, my dear."
"A couple years," Elena answered shortly. Elijah raised his eyebrows.
"Years?" Elijah frowned. "Surely someone would've made a move by now if this witch had put the link up to harm any of you."
"Unless they've been biding their time," Katherine chimed in, trying to get Elijah to look at her. Throughout the duration of their dinner, he hadn't spared her a glance. It was really starting to annoy the curly haired woman. Katherine wondered what his problem was.
"Biding time for what exactly?" Elena murmured thoughtfully.
"For what indeed," Klaus drawled. "Can I get a name, sweetheart?"
"Agnes," both Katherine and Elena replied simultaneously. The brothers exchanged a look. They knew of an elder witch with the same name that lived in the Quarter. It was a place to start.
"You know of her," Katherine deduces aloud. Elijah nods, finally looking at the curly haired vampire, but something wasn't right with his gaze. Katherine couldn't figure out the abnormality, but set aside her concerns for later.
"She's one of the leaders of the witch community in the Quarter." Klaus said. "I'll be having a word with 0her." It was clear to all those in the room that his intentions were going to be far worse than simply talking to the witch. Knowing Klaus, he'd resort to his most effective alternative: homicide. "On that cheerful note, it's time for dessert." He grinned wickedly as a housekeeper stepped up for every person, offering themselves to be fed on by the vampires. Both doppelgangers tensed, seemingly in unison, and Katherine immediately jumped out of her seat as the smell of blood permeated the air.
"Elena and I aren't thirsty Klaus," Katherine stated. "Besides, I think a little fresh air will do us good since you've been all caveman on from the minute we've stepped foot across the threshold." Without waiting for either Mikaelsons' response, Katherine walked determinedly over to Elena, looped their arms together and exited the back door and into the gardens.
"Follow them," both of them vaguely heard Klaus order. No doubt to one of his hybrids; they were always being guarded tightly. Although with them being linked to Klaus, it was no surprise.
"Thank you," Elena whispered, throwing her double a grateful look. Katherine simply nodded. No verbal response was needed.
The grounds were clean and beautiful. The grass was a healthy shade of green and freshly mowed. Flowers were in the process of blooming around them. Katherine spotted the maze the moment she'd stepped out the door and led Elena to it. She wasn't sure why Klaus had it built, but right now that didn't matter. It was a perfect spot for what Katherine had in mind.
"You need to feed," Katherine spoke after a few minutes of traveling through the mini maze with Elena. The maze was at least ten feet tall and made up a bush that was well groomed in order for it to keep up its structure.
"Now?" Elena asked, surprised.
"Yes," Katherine intoned firmly. "The coast is clear." She gestured around them. The lack of hybrids present was evident. "Come on, cupcake. We don't have all day." Elena was hesitant and didn't make a move closer. Katherine rolled her eyes and curled her fingers around the other girl's arm, tugging Elena forward.
"I could hurt you," Elena shook her head. Katherine's lip quirked upward. As if this baby vamp could put a scratch on her if Katherine didn't allow her to. The few times that they'd done this over the years, Elena would utter the same arguments. It was practically routine, and Katherine found the same amount of amusement in them every single time.
"I'll heal." Katherine guided Elena's head to her neck.
"You haven't fed," Elena tried again.
"I'll go snack on one of the wait staff," Katherine replied. "Better me than you. Now drink. We can't have you losing control again."
Damon's words from years earlier came to mind as Elena's fangs sunk into Katherine's neck. Blood sharing is . . . personal. Elena shoved the voice far back into her mind.
It'd been a couple hours since he and Elijah finished up feeding, and afterwards both parted ways: Elijah to finish some business across town and Klaus to his office to figure out the whole witch business.
The more he thought about it, the surer he was that Agnes couldn't be working alone. He wasn't lying when he told Katherine and Elena that the linking spell put on them took a lot of power. Even an elder witch like Agnes couldn't do it alone.
A powerful coven could do it.
If the witches in the quarter banded together with their coven leaders, they could do it. The idea had merit. The witches wanted to be able to practice magic freely, and with Klaus gone, they could do just that. Although, they couldn't have done a spell like that without Klaus noticing sooner.
But Katherine and Elena were outside of New Orleans when they had the spell done on them, so the witches could possibly have rendezvoused elsewhere to do the spell . . .
Klaus groaned. There were so many possibilities. He had so many enemies. That was one of the downfalls of eternity, he supposed. Plenty of witches wanted him dead; it'd be a miracle to figure out who exactly was conspiring against him.
But he had a lead—Agnes. He would follow through with that tomorrow. Then he would get his answers. For now, he would keep his doppelgangers as close as possible. He'd keep them safe until he figured out a remedy for their link.
Klaus frowned, tuning his ears around the house. Nothing. There was no indication that Elena or Katherine were in the house. Had they even come back from their romp through the gardens? Klaus stood swiftly, flashing out the door to his study. He checked their rooms first since they were the closest and then he went downstairs.
They weren't there.
"Hey," Klaus called to a passing hybrid, "you. Where are my doppelgangers?" The hybrid shrugged. The Original Hybrid growled and stormed to the back door. What good were minions if they couldn't handle such simple tasks?
Klaus scanned the premises. The had set almost to the point of darkness, but Klaus could see as easily as he could in the day. It's times like these that he really appreciated the ability. They weren't anywhere in sight.
"Elena. Katerina," Klaus called out. His voice cut into the silence like glass. "Come out, come out wherever you are." He grinned wolfishly. He pondered the possibility of them running from him, but scoffed at the thought. Katerina knew not to cross him again, and he doubted Elena would let it come to that.
He sniffed the air, allowing his werewolf side to take over. This was a game of cat and mouse, and the wolf in him wanted to play. He gave chase.
Their scents coming from the maze were faint—they'd moved on. A fresher trail led him straight into the woods. It would've been far more efficient if he'd transformed into a wolf; the scents would've been easier to decipher, but he didn't feel like ruining his clothes.
Klaus stumbled upon them a half a mile away from the house. He raised an eyebrow at the disheveled duo. Both had their clothes all rumpled and muddy. Elena even had a leaf in her hair.
"There you are," he announced. "What have you both gotten yourselves into now?" Elena froze in place, and Katherine turned to look at him coolly.
"Elena here," Katherine smirked, "thought she could beat me in a race. I proved her wrong, or well, I was about to until she tackled me." Elena blushed lightly. Klaus shook his head, amused.
"You should know better than that, love," he chided. "She's got five centuries on you. Me on the other hand . . ." Klaus trailed off, shooting Katherine a challenging glance.
"I don't know Klaus," Katherine began, "I've managed to keep ahead this long. Why stop now?" With her signature smirk in place, the elder doppelganger was running faster than a bullet.
"Cheater," Klaus sighed, throwing a look to Elena. "No matter. I'll still win." The mischievous twinkle in his eyes had Elena backing away. "Now don't be shy, love." Before she even realized what was happening, Klaus had Elena in his arms and was sprinting to the mansion. Elena's hair swirled freely around them and caused her scent to blow into his face. She smelled good. He noticed that he could smell a little of Katerina on her too. That's probably because Elena decided to tackle Katerina, he deduced.
Less than a minute later, they were back at the mansion. Katherine waited for them on the back steps, staring into the forest impatiently. As they approached, she crossed her arms and smirked at Klaus.
"I beat you," she sing songed.
"And I let you win," Klaus shrugged, setting Elena down.
"Whatever floats your boat," Katherine snorted. He didn't respond, choosing to infuriate her through silence. Unfortunately, she didn't have a reaction for his backing down.
"I'm hungry," Katherine announced. Elena had a knowing look on her face that went unnoticed by Klaus.
"I thought you said you weren't hungry at dinner," Klaus stated.
"I changed my mind." Katherine replied simply and entered the house.
Elena shrugged and followed after her. Klaus filed in after her. Now that he knew that his doppelgangers would be safe for the time being—everyone knew how they seemed to attract trouble like magnets—he could get back to figuring out the problem with the witches.
Agnes, what are you up to? And who with?
Like it? Hate it? Ahhh witches... you never know what they're up to, eh? Thanks for the reviews guys! Keep 'em coming. Tell me what you'd like to see in this fic. I've got a ton of ideas, but what's a little more, right?
