Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries or any quotes used.
To (Guest) Clara: Thanks! I'm glad you think so!
Note: I've got a handle on the outline for the rest of this story and I'm going to warn you guys that it veers very far off the season four canon (I mean, not that canon hasn't already radically been changed, but whatever). Not sure if you're happy or sad about that, but it is what it is. I hope you will like the changes.
sympathy for the devil
"Dig up her bones but leave the soul alone
Boy with a broken soul
Heart with a gaping hole
Dark twisted fantasy turned to reality
Kissing death and losing my breath
Midnight hours cobble street passages
Forgotten savages, forgotten savages."
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Kol's eyes were closed when Bonnie did the spell, so he didn't see the look of concentration, pain, and pure satisfaction on her face as she performed Expression for the very first time.
He didn't see anything real, in fact; everything was unadulterated sensation. His mind was like a bee hive – buzzing and vibrating with new and old information. His whole body was tingling and shaking – he could feel adrenalin coursing through his veins, along with all of his borrowed blood. His heart pumped erratically and Kol felt a genuine smile spread across his lips. He could feel his very soul reaching out and the tendrils of his thoughts connecting with the hum of nature for the first time in over a thousand years.
How it all went so wrong, so quickly.
The shaking turned into violent convulsions and Kol's eyes flew open and rolled back into his head. All sound disappeared and the world went black, but the pain, oh God the pain and the feelings and thoughts of the natural world burned him. Kol must have dropped to the floor at some point because his head banged against the hardwood floor, but he barely felt the impact. His body jerked and seized until finally, everything turned brightbrightbright.
Kol blinked open his eyes slowly and oh God even that hurt. Everything ached – places that had never before felt pain were raging now. The ceiling was the only thing he could initially see, but if he turned his head –ever so slowly – Kol could make out Bonnie's prone form lying a few feet away from him. Her body was splayed out awkwardly, like a puppet, and her eyes were pure white as they gazed into Kol's.
"Bonnie?" His voice was croaky and his throat sore. Had he been screaming?
Bonnie blinked and the white dissolved into the usual dark brown, but the memory of their unnatural color was burnt into Kol's retinas. Bonnie lifted her head and propped herself up by her arm. "Kol? How do you feel?"
He barked a derisive laugh and almost threw up. "When I'm able to articulate more than a sentence at a time, I'll let you know." He fought his way into a sitting position and put his hands onto his knees. The buzzing in the back of his head was worse now, but if he focused, it wasn't necessarily bad. It was – almost familiar.
"Well?" Bonnie asked, "Did it work?" She dragged herself to her knees and then plopped down onto her couch. Kol didn't answer and instead reached for that familiar feeling – ah – yes, there it was. He looked over at her and murmured underneath his breath – and all of the CDs and DVDs and books on the shelves rose higher and higher. The curtains opened and the sink ran and Kol beamed.
"Bonnie Bennett, I could kiss you, darling," Kol breathed in wonder.
"Please don't," She muttered, but she was smiling a little too, at the fact that she had performed an extremely strong form of magic successfully the first time she tried it.
"How does Expression feel?" Kol demanded.
"It's . . . like nothing I've ever felt before," Bonnie looked like she was grasping for words, but they would not come. "It's just . . . beautiful. I've never felt so strong before in my life."
Kol muttered another ancient word and all of the things he'd levitated drop. He dragged himself up to his feet, still wincing. "I – thank you, Bonnie, really." It almost physically pained him to say, "I suppose I owe you one." Bonnie nodded absent mindedly.
"What – what have you done?" The two witches looked up and saw Abby standing at the base of the staircase, looking horrified. One of her hands was clutching her shawl around her neck, knuckles pale from the pressure she was exerting. The other was at her mouth, covering her lips in her shock.
"Mom, I can explain," Bonnie said quickly, happily, "I can give you your magic back!"
Abby was not nearly as thrilled. "Bonnie, you've gone against nature – against the spirits!" Abby shouted.
"I don't answer to the spirits anymore, Mom," Bonnie shook her head. She had to make her mother understand. "And neither do you. Come here." She went to her mother, but Abby ghosted across the room. Kol met her mid stride and restrained the young vampire in his strong arms. He looked up and met Bonnie's gaze.
"What have you done, Bonnie?" Abby demanded again and struggled in Kol's tight grasp. He didn't let go.
"I've channeled Expression, and so I can help you now," Bonnie explained, but if anything, Abby's frenzied movements turned even more hysterical.
"Bonnie!" Abby shrieked. "Why?" Her eyes were rounded and her hands trembling.
"Mom!" Bonnie was near tears. "Everything's fine, I didn't hurt anyone. Just listen to me!"
"No! You've got to purge that magic out of your system, Bonnie Bennett!" Abby turned furious eyes onto Kol. "And reclaim that magic you've given to that monster!" Kol recoiled sharply; he acutely aware of the emptiness he'd feel if Bonnie took it away again. He couldn't ever let that happen.
Bonnie tore her hands through her hair and turned large eyes onto Kol. "Take her memories away. Keep from remembering this."
"Bonnie, no," Abby shook her head.
"Mom, you don't understand," Bonnie explained, even as Kol eagerly snatched Abby again and made eye contact. He wouldn't lose his magic now that he'd just gotten it back. Never again.
"Bonnie . . ."
Kol compelled Abby. "You won't remember this conversation. You have no recollection of Bonnie wielding Expression or I performing magic . . ."
Bonnie bit her lip. "Have her go on a vacation. Jamie misses her."
"Jamie misses you. You're going to go home and visit him for a few months. You'll email and call regularly."
Abby blinked. "Bonnie, I hate to leave, but I just have this feeling that Jaime misses me . . ."
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Tyler lay in his hospital bed, head resting on the pillow, body warm beneath the blankets. His chest had healed up fine, but for appearances' sake, he was staying, mostly for his mother. He even had a guard outside his room to make sure the shooter didn't return to finish the job . . .
There was the sound of scuffing shoes and then the hall was alive with the sounds of wrestling bodies and hard punches. Tyler's eyes snapped open. He lifted his head and then leapt out of his bed, hiding in the shadows of the hospital room. He waited. The door opened and the hunter strode inside carefully. Tyler jumped off the wall and onto the guy's back, but Connor had him by the throat with a needle in his veins only seconds later with his preternatural speed. The hybrid tried to move, but the hunter only smirked and held him tighter.
"Don't bother; it's paralytic." He reached down and opened Tyler's mouth, inserting a needle. He slowly withdrew something, werewolf venom Tyler's panic mind presumed, and then he put the liquid into a vial. "Thanks for the donation," The hunter said sardonically, "It'll go towards a good cause." And then the he was gone. Tyler strained against the paralytic poison in his veins and managed to get to his feet, but by the time he was able, Connor Jordan was gone.
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Stephanie had woken that morning feeling the bloodlust; hunger gnawed at her belly, clawing its way through her throat. And so she'd taken to distracting herself. She got up, showered and dressed in skinny jeans, a pale blouse and boots, done up her hair, and went to work on her motorcycle that she kept stashed away in the garage.
Damon found in her the front yard, hours later. "Today looks like a nice day for a mid-life crisis."
"Yeah, well," Stephanie shrugged. "I was hungry." She averted her eyes and tried not to think about Jeremy or Klaus. Or blood.
Damon nodded and crossed his arms. "I'm off to save to the day again. Tyler was werewolf-venom jacked this morning and so now the hunter has some ready-to-go vampire poison bottled and ready to sell. I've got to go and fix it." He rolled his eyes.
"How are you planning to do that?" Stephanie felt compelled to ask. Really, Damon had some shortsighted plans.
"Well, I'm going to find him, and then I'm going to eat him," Damon said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, and Steph supposed that to Damon, it was. But really, like she said, shortsighted.
"I'll come with you," She offered. Anything to get her mind off of the burning hunger and it had the added bonus of keeping Damon out of trouble.
"Actually, I was thinking you could keep an eye on Elena while she goes to school today," Damon admitted, "You know, kind of a I-Suck-At-Being-A-Vampire Support Group." He smiled.
"Yeah, um, how is she doing, by the way? Is she eating anything besides your blood now?" Stephanie inquired.
Damon wiggled his brows. "Well, while blood sharing is oh so much fun – and she agrees with me – it's not the most satisfying, as you well know after snacking on Klaus, so we worked something out with Matt."
"And Anna doesn't mind Elena macking on her boyfriend?" Stephanie asked sardonically.
"Eh. Elena trusts Matt and Matt trusts Elena. Elena doesn't want to snack on her brother and Bonnie's out of reach, training her pet Original. Last option kind of thing, I assure. Anna will get over it."
"What about a stranger?" Stephanie questioned.
"Well, considering most of the town is on vervain, that's a little painful," Damon shrugged. "I wouldn't subject anyone to tell." His face turned thoughtful. "Although, I might be able to think of someone . . ."
"And you don't mind her macking on Matt?" Stephanie asked pointedly. She tapped her thigh with her fingers, full of nervous energy.
Damon purposefully looked up towards the sky; an aversion tactic. "Of course not. It's for survival."
"And blood bags won't suffice?" Stephanie asked dryly.
"We don't want her to turn into a ripper, now, do we? Blood bags aren't the real deal and I want her to be prepared around actual living, breathing, and 96.4 degree people," Damon explained, "So no, blood bags won't suffice." Stephanie nodded. She knew the difference intimately. "So, have fun at school, little sister, and let the grown-ups handle everything else." Damon finished and the waved a hand at Stephanie. "Go on. Have fun laughing at the stupidity of the modern educational system."
Stephanie rolled her eyes, but swung a leg onto her motorcycle anyway and revved it, driving off and leaving Damon in the dust. She arrived at school to find Matt walking away from a shaded corner, tucking a white bandaged wrist into his sleeve and giving her the side-eye. Anna met him at the school doors, looking distinctly unhappy but trying to trudge through the unpleasantness. She caught Stephanie watching and turned her head away.
Stephanie met Elena coming out of the same shadowed corner and waved. The vampires met in the parking lot and a yellow flyer caught their attention. Elena picked up and read. "There's a town curfew?"
"Tyler did get shot in front of everyone at a memorial," Steph pointed out dryly. "It would have looked like an assassination attempt at the Mayor's son to everyone else."
"If only they knew the real story," Elena rolled her eyes. They walked into school together and went to their new history class with a new history teacher. Elena closed her eyes and held her breath – Stephanie empathized. The pounding of everyone's hearts around her was about to drive her crazy.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
"What a pair," Stephanie said lightly to diffuse the tension, "a newborn vampire and a rehabbing ripper going to school. I'm sure there's a punch line in there somewhere." Elena breathed out and giggled. Then she teared up. "This is the first time we've been in Alaric's classroom without him," Stephanie murmured in realization.
"First period and I'm ready to fall to pieces," Elena agreed. Suddenly there was a ruckus going on in the front of the room and the two vampire girls looked up to see someone they'd never thought they'd see in a school building – or any kind of learning institution really.
"Welcome one, welcome all to my anti-curfew party at my new mansion," Kol Mikaelson bore a shit eating grin on his face as he handed out brightly colored flyers. "There will be a keg, illegal drugs, and a whole lot of loud music. Hello, darlings, how are you?"
"And just like that, I'm not feeling sentimental anymore," Elena muttered and she sank in her seat.
"Hello Kol," Stephanie said pleasantly and the Original's grin turned luminescent.
"You two are, of course, invited," He smirked and handed them both flyers. "Parties are usually Rebekah's sort of thing, but I figured since she was in New Salem I'd throw one in her honor. The curfew is the sort of thing she'd boycott, anyway."
"Thanks, Kol," Elena deadpanned. "A party was just what we needed."
"Brilliant." Kol moved away in all of his happy energy, and Stephanie leaned over to whisper into Elena's ear.
"Is it just me or is there something seriously wrong with a legitimately happy Kol Mikaelson?"
Elena snorted. "I smell disaster in the air. We aren't really going, are we?"
"Why not?" Stephanie asked. "Like I said, we're both hungry for blood and alcohol curbs the edge. It might be helpful."
"Keep saying that and I'll turn into an alcoholic before I'm thirty," Elena groaned. "You know, I'd always wondered if you guys just said that so you had an excuse to drink to excess, but then I actually turned into a vampire."
Stephanie smiled. And then it immediately turned into a frown as she saw someone pass in the hallway. "What is it?" Elena asked, twirling a piece of her long, pin straight brown hair around a finger.
"It's the hunter." Stephanie narrowed her eyes.
"What?" Elena immediately looked up.
"The hunter is here at school," Stephanie explained, and they quickly rose from their seats and took off after him.
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"Do you mind telling me who you are and why I'm here? I'm happy to his miss Bio, but . . ." Jeremy trailed off. Actually, he kind of wanted to go to Biology so he could find a seat next to April. He found that the more time he spent with her, the less he spent agonizing over Stephanie and their relationship; and the less time dwelling on that, the better. He'd been apprehended by the strange man – who was deceptively strong – he'd complimented in the Grill the other night, and dragged into an empty classroom.
"I've been looking through your family's history," The man said and then tossed a file onto Jeremy's desk. "You and your sister have been through quite a lot of trauma in the last couple of years. First your parents died, your friend Vicki Donovan, then your aunt passed, and then your foster dad . . . you just attended funeral after funeral."
"What are you, a social worker?" Jeremy asked, knowing full well that this man was no social worker. He wasn't the type. "What do you care, anyway?"
"Because you saw this." The man rolled up his sleeve to expose his huge black tattoo.
"It's a . . . tattoo, big deal," Jeremy scoffed. What was this guy's deal? Jeremy hadn't thought that there was anyone more psychopathic that Klaus, but this man was proving him wrong . . .
"I call it a Hunter's Mark, as in a vampire hunter," The man said and the pieces of the puzzle suddenly clicked together, making Jeremy's heart race.
"Vampire? Haha, look, I'm sorry man, but that's a little . . ." Jeremy drawled off and hoped he was convincing enough.
"Jeremy," Connor Jordan stepped in front of him and looked down his nose at the teenager. "Like I said, I know your family's history in this town. So you playing dumb . . . just . . . makes you look . . . dumb." Through the tiny window of the classroom door, Jeremy caught sight of Stephanie's serious face. Relief filled him; despite their relationship problems, Jeremy knew he could always count on Stephanie to step in and save the day – at least, when she was sane. Elena appeared just behind her and both girls inclined their heads. Jeremy nodded.
"Well, why the show and tell? I don't even know you," Jeremy stated.
"Because the tattoo is invisible," The Hunter stated and Jeremy felt confusion rise in his gut, "to anyone other than a hunter or a potential hunter. So find me a vampire, and I'll train you. Teach you everything I know. I'm on Hudson off of route 13. Don't show up until you find a vampire." He started to walk away.
"How am I supposed do that?"
"Why don't you start by asking your friend with a bandage on his wrist?" Connor disappeared out of the door. Several moments later, Steph and Elena were crowding in the classroom, fluffed up and full of concern. It was always like it used to be.
But then Stephanie and he met eyes and Jeremy felt all of the tension between them simmer and boil over; her capillaries beneath her eyes grew dark and she looked down and took a step away. Jeremy licked his lips.
Elena was ignorant of the interaction as she patted Jeremy down as if searching for injuries. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jeremy brushed her off gently. When Elena didn't stop, Jeremy stilled her hands with his. Quietly, he murmured, "I'm fine, Elena. He just said spouted some crock about me being a Potential and then he gave me his address. I'm going to give it to Damon so he can check the place out."
"A potential what?" Stephanie questioned.
"A potential hunter."
"What does that even mean?" Elena demanded. "You'll become like him?"
Jeremy could only shrug helplessly, but whatever emotions of fear he'd felt were gone; now, he was only curious.
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Damon received a text from Jeremy about the hunter's home location, and immediately went to investigate the place. It was a trailer a little off the road, but easy enough to find. Damon parked his car and stepped out, slowly taking in the trashy mobile home.
"Gotta say, it's not much," He said to himself and he slammed the car door shut. Damon loped to the front door, tapped on it and listened for any human occupation but there was none. He jiggled and then snapped the lock and opened the door. Damon stuck a foot forwards, but when he met no resistance, made his way inside. The trailer was full of a bunch of unfamiliar tech, and some vampire hunting gear, including stakes and loaded guns. Damon was painfully reminded of Alaric. "No time for nostalgia," He muttered.
Then his eyes wandered and it became very clear that Connor was no Alaric Saltzman; there were bottles of strange substances and papers strewn everywhere. He reached for one that looked like a letter and immediately two arrows flew out of nowhere and stabbed in the belly and the chest.
He choked.
Attached to the ends of the arrows were white strings that were connected to a bomb. Damon scowled and tried to pull one of the strings to test – the bomb rattled and he very quickly released the string. "Yeah, I'm gonna need some help." Carefully as to not trigger another flying arrow, he reached around for his phone and rapidly texted Stephanie.
HELP. COME ALONE.
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Tyler was incredibly bored and he wasn't sure when he'd last been this uninterested in anything, ever. After his werewolf venom jacking at the hospital, his mother had brought him home and essentially said he was on house arrest until this Connor guy was found and dealt with. For once, Tyler hoped Damon found the guy first.
He tossed his football into the air from his prone position on the couch and caught it again. Repeat. Repeat five more times.
"So, this is where you've been hiding all this time."
Tyler craned his head back and caught sight of someone he hadn't thought he'd ever see again; she had wavy dark hair and matching eyes, a playful grin on her face, and beautiful tanned limbs with corded muscle beneath the skin.
"Hayley?" He demanded and he was already half way off the couch. He went over at the same time she charged towards him.
"Hey, Lock-wolf," She smirked and they collided into a warm hug. Tyler's arms went around her, resting on her hips and felt her strong hands on his shoulders. They laughed.
"I should have called you," Tyler said, tone turning apologetic.
"From your trailer park in Florida? You're such a dirty, rotten liar, Tyler," Hayley accused, but she was smiling as she said it so Tyler supposed he was in the clear. She spun around in a circle, pretty mouth dropped into an 'o' of awe as she took in his house. "This place is incredible. You're totally loaded!" Tyler pulled a 'Who, me?' face and lifted his hands from his sides, but Hayley wasn't finished. "I chained you up all over the Appalachians, I talked you through every turn, I helped you break the Sire bond; you could have told me that you were filthy rich." She hopped up onto an antique table and leaned forwards.
"Well, I never would have dreamed that you would follow me back here," Tyler said pointedly. "I didn't want anyone to follow me back. Werewolves aren't safe around Klaus and he may be out of the picture right now, but I doubt it will stay that way."
"What do you mean?" Hayley asked. "Didn't your witch friend do something about him?"
Tyler shrugged. "The guy is sneaky. And he's escaped before."
"Well, for now, I'm safe," Hayley declared, "and the least you could do right now is poor me some fancy rich people Scotch." She arched one perfectly shaped brow at him and Tyler felt something in him break.
"Fine," He admitted defeat. "I will absolutely pour you some Scotch. Have a seat."
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Stephanie left Elena and Jeremy to themselves, promising to meet up with Elena at Kol's party, and then went to sort out Damon's mess. She went to the address Jeremy had texted to Damon and found a solitary white trailer in the middle of nowhere. Steph crunched the grass with her boots as she strode up to the door of the trailer and tore it open to see that Damon was standing in the center of the trailer, two arrows embedded into his flesh.
"Damon!"
"Don't move!" His voice was like a whip in the silence of the trailer.
"Why were you being so cryptic? And why won't you let me help you now that I'm here?" Steph demanded, hands on hips.
"Come here," Damon commanded, "but slowly. Cautiously. Don't touch anything."
Steph crept forwards and her green eyes widened fractionally. "Is that a bomb? Please don't tell me that's a bomb, Damon."
"Fine," He went for what managed to be a half shouldered shrug. "It's not a bomb. It's a kitten – an adorable, exploding kitten."
Steph fought the urge to smack her brother. Instead, she said, "Hold still," and she quietly and surefootedly made her way over to Damon's side. "Now, I'm going to have cut some pieces to tear the arrows out. Do whatever it is you need to do to keep that," She inclined her head to the bomb, "from exploding and killing us."
"I just have to not move," Damon assured her, "and that'll be a cake walk."
"You say that now," Steph warned. "Just wait until I have my hands in your chest cavity as I pull those out."
Damon winced at the thought and Stephanie grabbed a dagger off of the counter. She used both her strength and sharp end of the weapon gouge out the arrows, one and at time. As she did this, Damon reached for the letter he'd tried to grab before.
"Did you know the weird and nutsy Pastor Young at all before his kidnapping attempt?"
"Not really, no," Steph muttered and her tongue poked out of her mouth in concentration. Her fingers were deft and she prodded the arrow. The wound was grotesque looking – it kept healing over the wood and festered a little with some werewolf venom.
"Well, this letter he wrote is about sacrifice and war in Mystic Falls. He mentions a greater evil is coming," Damon read aloud. "Creepy."
"Crazy dude," Steph agreed and then she sighed. "Here, I think this should be good." She tore out the arrow cleanly and Damon breathed a sigh of relief. "One more to go."
Damon groaned.
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Matt walked through the halls of the high school and besides Anna and Kol Mikaelson, he didn't see any of the people he usually associated with. Anna was in Pre-Calc. and Kol was handing out stacks upon stacks of flyers for his anti-curfew party in a strangely good mood. No one else was in school, or if they were, they weren't hanging around with him. Matt forced himself to not be bitter.
"What's that on your wrist?"
Matt stilled and turned around. Leaning against the cement bricked wall was the hunter, Connor. He was deceptively calm. "I cut myself."
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Connor asked. He pushed himself forward and Matt took a step back. Connor followed. He grabbed Matt's wrist and ripped off the bandage Anna had carefully applied that morning, revealing bloodied, bruised holes. "Who are you letting feed on you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Matt said evenly.
"Are you sure about that?" Connor took hold of Matt's shirt front and dragged him into a corner and pushed him up against a wall. Matt had to lean forwards to avoid getting his head knocked against the stone wall. Connor pulled a knife and Matt paled. "Tell me which of your high school friends is a vampire." He put the knife to Matt's neck and put pressure onto his throat, making Matt's pulse skyrocket. "Who is it?"
An image of Kol handing out flyers flashed into his mind. "It's – it's Kol. Kol Mikaelson is a vampire."
Connor's face broke out into a grin. "Thanks buddy. When you wake up, he'll be long gone." Matt felt his head crash against the wall again but this time, everything went dark.
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Jeremy, after dodging Stephanie and Elena, went to the address the hunter had given him; he was curious. When he arrived at the trailer, Connor was there, whittling a stake.
"You got me a vampire?" Connor asked without looking up.
"No . . ."
"Then what are you doing here?" The hunter asked, glancing at Jeremy's face.
"I want to know more about this hunter thing," Jeremy admitted.
Connor tilted his head. "You know much about vampires then, Jeremy?"
"Some," Jeremy agreed hesitantly. Jeremy didn't want to give away his sister and the others, but he wanted Connor to trust him enough to let him know what the hell was going on with him.
Connor nodded slowly. "There's a problem with vampires, besides the fact that they are vampires, of course. They spread like a disease – they're an infestation. That's what you've got in this town, Jeremy; an infestation of vampires. One of them is even throwing a party." He stood and slung a bag over his shoulder.
"Is that where we're going? To this party?" Jeremy asked eagerly.
"Nah; as long as there are people drinking at this party, I've got it covered," Connor shook his head. "We're not going anywhere. You're going to find me a vampire or else I'm not telling you anything more. Got it?"
Jeremy licked his dried lips and nodded. "Fine." He turned and started to walk away, leaving the hunter to his whittling. There was no way he'd betray one of his friends and Kol was annoying, but harmless now and un-killable. There had to be a way for this guy to give him some more information . . . or there had to be someone else he could get it from.
But what was that he'd said about the drinks at Kol's party?
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Stephanie left Damon to regroup and went to meet Elena at the party. She found her and Caroline milling around the keg, cheering on the football team as one of the group chugged cup after cup of beer. She ghosted to their sides quietly, but they immediately recognized her presence.
"Steph! I'm glad you're finally here," Caroline grinned. "I have to get going – I'm meeting Tyler at his place because his mom put him on like house arrest or something – but I didn't want to leave Elena alone. Now that I know she's in good hands, though . . ." She hugged Steph and then Elena and disembarked to, apparently, check on her home ridden boyfriend.
"Had any beer yet?" Elena offered her a cup. "Caroline declined on the grounds that apparently Ms. Lockwood can smell the stench of alcohol a mile away."
Stephanie took the red plastic cup into her hands. "Knowing that she has Tyler for a son, that doesn't really surprise me."
Elena grinned but the smile faltered when a teenager wandered a little too close. She had to shake herself to keep from going after the girl – and her blood. "I need to get drunk," She announced, "Roaring, raving drunk."
She lifted her glass and Steph tapped hers with it ruefully. "I'll toast to that." They drank and then headed inside. There was no barrier, making Stephanie frown in contemplation.
"We didn't have to be invited in. I wonder who used to live here."
"More like who died here," Elena corrected morbidly. They found Kol ahead of them, socializing. "I wonder what's made him so cheerful. I mean, he's usually sarcastic and gleeful, but it always seemed so artificial. There's something about him now that's . . ."
"Genuine," Steph nodded with narrowed eyes. "I don't know what he's got to be so happy about," She said truthfully, "His brothers are either missing or paralyzed and his sister is miles away."
"Maybe that's why he's happy," Elena said jokingly, "Crazy family drama and everything." Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of April Young. "Hey, look who it is. I'm going to go talk to her."
Stephanie drained her cup of beer. "And I'm going to go find something stronger than this cheap stuff. Have fun talking." She saluted with her cup as Elena disappeared around a corner. She sighed when she was out of sight and went searching for vodka or bourbon or even whiskey. Anything stronger than the watered down American beer Kol was serving by the keg.
Stephanie wandered the cavernous mansion, different from the place Klaus and they had stayed – thankfully – and if it weren't for her vampire senses, she would have gotten herself lost. As it was, she could not find the alcohol cabinet, so had to concede defeat and head back for the main party.
Close to the foyer, Steph found the surprising sight of Anna and Matt making out in a secluded corner. The world tilted sideways at the same time and Stephanie stumbled backwards into an end table with a glass vase. The vase shuddered, but didn't fall, and Anna and Matt were alerted to her presence. Their faces were pulled into almost comical expressions of surprise, and their clothes and hair was askew.
"Sorry! Sorry, I'm going," Steph muttered, shielding her eyes and stumbling away from the couple and into the sunlight. She blinked and the dizziness disappeared. Someone handed her another cup, which Stephanie drank candidly, eager to forget her bout of dizziness and the aroma of blood around her. Across the lawn, she caught sight of Jeremy.
She watched him for a moment; he was smiling, actually grinning, and talking animatedly with someone out of Steph's line of sight. His brown hair was a little spiked and rumpled, and he waved his hands energetically as he spoke. He was happy. Stephanie took a step forwards to join him and maybe say hello, but a fellow partygoer moved and she was able to see who exactly Jeremy was talking to: April Young.
Steph sighed a little mournfully and a realization came to her; their relationship wouldn't ever be what it had been. Their foundation hadn't been strong enough to weather the storms of her ripper days, or if they had been, his time away from Mystic Falls had made the teenager realize something about himself. Maybe he wanted a nice, human life with a sweet, human wife. They could grow graduation high school and go to college and grow old together and have children. It would be normal.
If that wasn't what Jeremy wanted, he would have to take the first step.
Stephanie turned away just in time to see Elena standing on her hands on top of the keg that was lying horizontally on the ground. She had the hose in between her lips and was sucking down the beer like it was water. Steph wandered a little closer and began to clap with her classmates as Elena just kept going. The new vampire finally gave up the hose, just when it was becoming suspicious, and performed an extravagant flip off of the keg.
"Congratulations, but I have to ask, did you get tired of your conversation with April?" Stephanie asked and somehow there was still beer left in the keg, as someone handed her another glass. She drained it.
Elena was grinning ear to ear from her exploits, but the corners of her lips turned down at the mention of the younger girl. "We talked some about her father. Then Jeremy arrived and wanted to speak with her."
Stephanie nodded and reached for another cub. "Nice job, there," She waved a pointed hand loosely at the beer keg.
Elena smiled a little. "Thanks. You ready to go home? I can hear some sirens in the distance; sounds like this party is about to get busted."
"And then all the teenagers here will get tagged, bagged, and shipped back home," Stephanie nodded. "Sure, let's go. My motorcycle is still sitting up front, hopefully."
The vampires made their way out of the mansion to the front, where by some miracle Stephanie's bike was still there and untouched. Stephanie swung her leg over and settled while Elena hopped onto the back and gripped Steph's midsection. "Grab a helmet," Steph instructed and Elena gave her a dry look.
"It's for appearances," Stephanie explained, "and also, you really don't want to scrape your brains back together to heal if we get into an accident." Elena made a disgusted face and quickly pulled her helmet on, making Stephanie smirk. She revved the engine and sped off the property and headed home.
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Jeremy excused himself from April's company after a while, and went to do what he'd come to; find his sister and Steph and tell them about Connor's weird behavior about the drinks at the party. But by the time he found them again, they were driving off in Steph's bike. He hollered after them at first, but when they didn't stop, he sighed and lowered his hand.
And he promptly narrowed his eyes when the motorcycle began to wobble. "What the hell?" Jeremy began to jog towards them and the bike swerved sharply to the left. His gate turned into a flat out sprint. The motorcycle had swerved off the road and into an empty field of flowers, throwing her passengers' flying head over handlebars. The bike kept going and then exploded into a hot and bright flurry of fire, and Jeremy had to duck and cover his face to keep from being hit by debris.
"Elena!" He shouted. "Elena! Stephanie!"
Jeremy ran towards where they'd been flung, giving the burning and smoking bike a wide berth, and knelt next to Elena. She was burned all down her arms and around her face and it was healing slowly –too slowly. He gently swatted at her face. Her eyes groggily blinked open, but they were filmy and unfocused. "Elena?" Jeremy whispered. "Come on, wake up." When she continued to blink hazily at him, but nothing else, Jeremy regrettably left her and hopped over to Stephanie's place a few feet away.
"Steph?" She looked tiny in her tattered leather jacket, and her whole body was battered and burned. "Stephanie, hey, come on now. Wake up." Jeremy patted her face to rouse her and got the same reaction as with Elena. He sat back, frustrated. An ugly idea was forming in the back of his brain, but he didn't want to think about it, lest it be true.
But the pieces were coming together and it didn't look pretty. What were the odds that his sister and her friend wouldn't drink at a party; especially when they were both trying to distract themselves from a vampire's primal hunger for blood? Connor had mentioned something in the drinks and only that morning he'd werewolf venom jacked Tyler Lockwood.
"Damn, oh damn," Jeremy cursed and kept up the stream, even as he picked up his phone and dialed Damon's number.
It rang for several seconds, and then when he answered, Damon wasn't happy to hear from Jeremy. "What do you want, little Gilbert?"
"I think I figured out what the hunter did with the werewolf venom," Jeremy said grimly as his eyes swept Elena and Stephanie again. "And it's not good."
"I'm listening."
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When Kol's vision had started to double and blur, he'd at first thought maybe he'd had enough to drink. But then he began to see dead people.
"Look what you've become," Mikael spat, "Just like any other frat boy throwing a high school party. You're immature and selfish – you throw temper tantrums whenever you get mad. What's it going to take for you to grow up, Kol? You've already died."
"No thanks to you. And funny, I thought you were dead," Kol mumbled through stiff lips. The police had come taken the other teenagers away to their homes, but Kol had hidden in the shadows. Now his house was trashed, but empty. His phone kept ringing, which was irritating. "Guess Nik didn't do a well enough job."
"Do not get me started on your brother," Mikael growled.
"Then don't start," Kol snapped and waved an unsteady hand at the apparition. "Go 'way, Father." He pushed himself to his feet and wondered when he'd fallen to the floor. He drunkenly walked through the halls and dragged himself up a staircase to his new bed. He collapsed into it.
"You betrayed me," Klaus suddenly roared from a corner of the room, startling Kol, "for that Bennett witch!"
"She's pretty," Kol admitted, "and she gave me my magic back. It's not like you're really dead or anything. It's just like you've been daggered." Inexplicably, he giggled. His phone rang again.
His mother appeared next to him. "You've committed a terrible wrong, Kol," Esther said disapprovingly, "showing that innocent girl how to channel Expression. What do you think will come of it?" Mikael had disappeared and Klaus was silent in his mother's presence.
"Hush, you, I'm answering the phone," Kol snapped again and finally picked up his cellular phone. "Hullo?"
"Damn you, I've been calling for nearly an hour," Bonnie's harried voice said on the other end. Huh. An hour? "Kol? Kol, answer me."
"Expression will overtake her," Esther warned, "It will blacken her soul, like it did those witches you met when you were a child. You can't think having that much power is good. And look what you have made her do – giving you back your magic is against nature, dear. Do you not feel its anger? You're an abomination, especially now that you're two supernatural things."
"Just like Nik," Kol giggled. "Instead of a werewolf-vampire hybrid, I'm a witch-vampire hybrid."
"Kol!" Bonnie shouted. "What are you talking about?"
"Sorry, Mum's annoying the shite out of me," Kol said blithely and turned away from Esther, "What was that?"
Bonnie became very quiet.
"Kol," She finally said softly, "did you drink the beer?"
"Of course I drank the beer, it's my party," Kol told her and he fell backwards onto his back, head smacking the headboard and then the pillow. "Ow," he said belatedly.
"It was infected with werewolf venom," Bonnie said slowly. "That's why you're hallucinating about your mother."
"And Father and Nik," Kol pointed out.
"And your father and Klaus," Bonnie repeated. "Okay. Kol, is there any spell I can do to fix this? Elena and Stephanie are sick too."
"Nope," Kol popped the 'p'. "I'll heal, I should think," His eyes wandered but he tried to make himself focus. For Bonnie. "But the girls will need Klaus or else they're goners."
"Can't I do anything with Expression? This is why I channeled it," Bonnie demanded. "So I could help my friends."
"Sorry, darling," Kol muttered as Esther shook her head slowly. "You need Klaus."
"Do not let her awaken Niklaus," Esther warned, "That is the one thing you've done right, my son, and that will come undone if you reawaken your brother."
"Shut up!" Klaus roared back into Kol's room. "You shut up!"
"Kol!"
"Sorry, darling, but I really need to stop Mum and Nik from breaking anything," Kol mumbled and then promptly threw up onto the carpet and dropped his cell phone.
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Tyler opened his door and a flying flurry of blonde joy jumped into his arms. He automatically put his arms around Caroline and she was grinning at him. "I ditched Kol's anti-ditch party to come be with you." She lowered her voice, "Let's sneak out."
Tyler smiled. "Sorry, Care."
"You're kidding me," Caroline dropped her arms.
"You should go back to the party," Tyler told her, feeling guilty about Hayley hidden away upstairs. "Have fun."
"I'd rather hang out with you," Caroline said and she sounded hurt. Damn it.
"Not right now," Tyler said, shaking his head. "Maybe later."
Caroline stood forlornly at his door. "Okay, I guess. See you later, then?"
Tyler mustered up as warm as a smile as he could. "Of course. I love you." Caroline waved a little and disappeared down the steps.
"So, was that the girlfriend?" Tyler looked up and saw Hayley, standing at the top of the stairs. "What am I, your scarlet woman?"
"I just didn't want Caroline to get jealous. She's a little neurotic," Tyler explained hastily.
"Right."
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Damon arrived and he and Jeremy managed to get Elena and Stephanie back to the Boarding House, where their conditions had rapidly deteriorated. Elena was lying in Damon's bed and Steph in her own room, and so Damon was at a loss of who to sit with – so he sat with neither and began to plot.
"So they're poisoned," Damon said to himself and ran a hand through his hair. "Of course they are." He'd called Bonnie, who had been strangely out of contact all day, and she said she would look up some stuff after she made a few calls. He was expecting her to call back any moment now. Footsteps on the stairs drew Damon's attention.
Jeremy was uncharacteristically grim. "They don't look good, Damon. They've both woken up, but the hallucinations have started."
Damon's phone rang shrilly. "Hello?"
"The only thing we can do is revive Klaus," Bonnie's voice was grim and full of an underlying anger. Damon could understand; they'd finally found a way to kill the bastard, and now they needed him? His life was full of irony. "I'm already where we stashed him. It'll just take a second and then he'll be over."
"Are you kidding me?" Damon asked anyway.
"No," Bonnie said gravely. "There's nothing else to do. I'll be over with Klaus as soon as possible." She hung up.
"Wonderful," Damon growled and angrily slammed his phone onto the table. "Just wonderful."
"What?" Jeremy asked sharply. "What did Bonnie say?"
"She has to wake up his Original Ass." Damon brushed passed Jeremy and headed up to check on his sister. She was sitting up in her bed, but her eyes were glazed. He lowered his voice into some variation of the tone he'd used to speak to her with when she was just a little kid. "Hey, Stephie, what are you doing sitting up? You're sick."
Her pallor was ghastly and Damon could see that the venom had blackened her veins. She was sweat drenched and her eyes looked hollow and he could barely stand to look at her, let alone Elena like this.
"Why are you here?" Stephanie suddenly asked.
"Because I'm your brother," Damon told her. "And I care about you."
"You're a liar," Stephanie said, but her gaze was somewhere off to the far left. "A dirty, rotten liar," She whispered and Damon sighed.
"Probably," Damon agreed and he rose. He went next door and found Elena in his bed, laid up and in the same condition as his sister. "Elena?"
She blinked hazily. "Dad?"
Damon deflated.
"Nah," Damon said, "but I think I'm a bit better company." He moved to lie beside her and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. She sank into his embrace.
"Isn't this cozy?" Damon looked up sharply and saw a face he'd never wanted to see again.
"Klaus," Damon curled his lip. He swallowed his pride. "Thanks for coming."
"It was no problem, as soon as your lovely witch friend and my brother woke me up and informed me my beloved and her best friend were bed ridden with werewolf poison," Klaus explained with his ever present grin. It fell, suddenly. "Let it be known that if it weren't for my affections for Stephanie, this wouldn't be happening."
Through his teeth, Damon spat, "I know. Just fix them."
Klaus strode over to the bed and pulled Elena into his arms. He bit into his wrist and then fed it to the young vampire. Slowly, she drank and Damon could see the life – metaphorically speaking – fill her up again. She blinked rapidly and when she saw who she was drinking from, immediately dropped Klaus' wrist.
Klaus' eyes twinkled. "So I see that you know what blood sharing is to a vampire?"
"Yes," Elena ground out.
"Good." Klaus rose and left without another word, leaving the happy couple to themselves. Downstairs, Bonnie was standing in the living room while Kol drunkenly lay on the Salvatore couch. Klaus had decided his punishment for helping put Klaus down would be to suffer it out. The humans Matt and Anna had joined them shortly, along with the bubbly vampire Caroline.
Klaus ignored their presences and went into Stephanie's bedroom. She was prone on her bed, curled up. He ghosted to her side and cradled her face into his hands before he pulled her close to his chest, letting her nose rest against his pulse in his neck. Slowly, her fangs dropped and she bit into him, and Klaus enjoyed the sensation as she pulled the blood from his veins.
When his blood did its work and Stephanie was healed, she immediately ghosted away, nearly spitting fire. "What are you doing here? What was going on?"
"You were ill," Klaus explained blithely and stood, letting the blood on his neck stay there, stained. "Werewolf venom is nasty stuff, love. I had to come and save the day, as they say."
"Get out," Stephanie pointed to the door. "Get out of my house."
"No thanks?" Klaus inquired.
"Thank you, now get the hell out," Stephanie snapped.
Klaus smirked. "As you wish, love." And he disappeared down the stairs to find the group waiting for him. "They've been cured, so I think I'll take my brother and leave." Matt rushed up the stairs, and he was followed very quickly by Caroline, but after Klaus scooped up a singing, tone deaf Kol, Bonnie followed him.
"Listen," The little witch said, but Klaus didn't pause. "Listen to me!" The wind whirled around them and it seemed like the very earth rumbled. Klaus stopped dead.
"You're more powerful," He observed tightly.
"Expression is a beautiful thing," Bonnie said emotionlessly.
Klaus' body was taut with raw energy. "So it was true."
Bonnie ignored his statement and pointed a finger into his chest. "Listen," She repeated again, "I'm more powerful now, and I can take you out any time I need to. So behave. And don't hurt Kol."
Klaus quirked an eyebrow.
"He can't defend himself," Bonnie explained further. "Due to a spell I put on him, he can't commit violence. It was a part of our deal."
Klaus' lips thinned. "Take it off."
"No."
"Take it off!"
The earth rumbled again and Klaus was flung off his feet and Kol rolled off in the dirty, still hallucinating and singing off key. "I'm calling the shots now, Klaus. The spell stays, and if you're not careful, I'll slap a matching one onto you." Bonnie straightened up. "Now. Take Kol home and do whatever the hell you're planning. But if you hurt him, I'll find out. If you hurt any of my friends, I will find out. And if you do, I'll end you."
Klaus rose to his feet bitterly and scooped up Kol. "You win this round, witch." Next time, he swore in his head, I'll get you.
Bonnie tilted her head back. "I'll win every round, Klaus. So don't hold your breath."
"Good thing I don't need to breathe, then." Hiking Kol into a fireman's carry over his shoulders, Klaus left the little witch standing alone on the Salvatore Boarding House lawn.
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tbc.