Author's note: Hello, everyone! Apologies for the lack of update on this story. Although, if you took part in the promo last chapter, you would've received a copy of the preview of this chapter. As I can't really promise a steady interval between updates, I will be extending my promo until the end of this story.
Promo: Anyone who reviews the latest uploaded chapter will be rewarded with a preview of the next chapter. If you're reviewing as anonymous, please leave your email address so I can send it the copy to you.
Also, I've got a new story up. The Law of Proximity. If you love some Klefan/Klaroline/Steroline/Klefaroline, be sure to check it out.
Summary: Caroline Salvatore is the Original Hybrid determined to break her curse. While on the run from their father, Alaric, Stefan and Caroline meet Klaus and Rebekah in the 1920's. When Alaric catches up to them, Caroline compels Klaus and Rebekah to forget, and daggers Stefan. When the doppelganger appears once more in 2012, Caroline and Klaus meet again but this time as enemies. AU.
"How was your visit?" a female voice called out.
Elijah set aside the bourbon in his hand and turned towards the figure standing in the doorway.
"It went just as I expected it would" he replied, as he made his way to sit in one of the couches in the living room.
The figure continued to linger in the doorway, seemingly hesitant to carry on the conversation she had started.
"I'd offer you a drink but we both know that you're not here to stay long, Katerina" he offered, raising an eyebrow.
Katherine flashed him a tight smile in response. "You were always too smart for your own good, Elijah. I would take you up on that drink but I believe we had a deal. I'm here to collect"
Elijah let out a humorless laugh and threw a condescending stare at her. "Are you trying to intimidate me, my dear?"
She glared at him, her fists curling into a ball. She stayed silent. In all her vampire years, she had learned to carefully pick her battles. Tonight was one of them. Even though she could easily overpower the younger vampire, he still held the stronger position in their chess game.
"You still don't trust the information I gave you" she said, realizing the real cause for his delay.
Elijah stood up and strode to where she was standing. Katherine's breath hitched as he stopped only a few inches short of her face. He gazed down at her, scrutinizing her face.
"I don't trust you, Katerina. You have to remember, darling, I know all about you. I know your games and most of all, I know every single play in your extensive playbook. It would be an understatement to say I don't trust every word that comes out that pretty little mouth of yours" he snarled, causing her to shiver involuntarily. "Although, I have to say, I'm flattered at your good sense to be frightened" he added, smirking for good measure.
At the sight of his smirk, Katherine's patience snapped. She swung her arm and slapped him, causing him to stumble on his feet. "Don't forget who you're talking to, Elijah. I don't appreciate cheek, especially from younger vampires like you" she growled.
Elijah quickly gained his composure. He slowly dusted his suit dramatically before raising another well sculptured eyebrow at her. "You may be a few centuries older, Katerina, but I hold your weakness. It'd be best if you play nice before I show you what a real vampire is"
"What else do you want? I already told you everything I know. I held up my end of the bargain, now it's time to hold up yours" Katherine said, as she stared at the younger vampire with pursed lips and trembling hands.
"As I've mentioned, I don't exactly trust you. I suppose you're right, though. It's only fair that I hold up my end of the bargain as well. I am a man of my word, after all." he said, as he procured a small brown envelope from his breast pocket.
Katherine eyed the envelope warily, as the younger vampire handed it to her with a congenial smile.
"Come on, Katerina. It won't bite" he said mockingly. "Inside you'll find the current address of the last surviving descendant of your bloodline."
She stared down at the envelope in her hands. It took her a second to realize that her fingers were trembling from anticipation.
"Run along now, Katerina, before I change my mind" he said as he turned around, suddenly uninterested in keeping the conversation alive any longer.
Katherine glanced up to at him and nodded slightly before leaving the house, shutting the door on her way out.
Caroline and Klaus frantically made their way towards the screaming voice in the living room.
"You've got to be kidding me" Caroline growled, as she stopped at the sight welcoming her.
Klaus trailed behind, barely able to catch up with the older vampire's speed. His attention shifted to the bodies that were strewn across the living room floor.
"I can't believe you, Stefan! How dare you spill blood on our living room carpet? Can you please stop feeding on that maid and listen to me for a second?" Caroline yelled, as she stepped over a lifeless body on the floor.
Klaus dared to steal a quick glance at the seething blonde beside him before closing his eyes and preventing the smile that was creeping to his face. Despite the reasons he held for despising the older male vampire, he had to mentally applaud him for his theatrics.
Stefan detached his fangs from the maid's neck as he cradled her frail body in his arms. He took in the anger flashing brightly in his younger sister's eyes and grinned boyishly at her. He glanced backwards towards the younger blonde in the room, currently feeding on another maid, unaware of the current situation that was unfolding.
It took Klaus a moment before he followed Stefan's gaze to find Rebekah savagely tearing into the maid's jugular. His admiration for the older vampire faded just as quickly as it came. "What did you do to her?" he growled menacingly, as he flashed towards his sister.
"I want more!" Rebekah screamed, as Klaus yanked her away from the dying woman. "Let me go, Nik! I want more! Give me more blood!" she yelled, as she trashed and struggled in her older brother's arms.
Klaus glared at the older vampire, as he watched Stefan careless throw the maid's body on the ground, not bothering to wipe the excess blood on his face.
"You two were taking so long playing taste-my-tonsils that I got bored and decided to entertain myself" Stefan said, as he stepped over the bodies on the floor and sat down on his previous spot on the sofa.
Caroline crossed her arms, still angry at her older brother's actions. "You said you'd behave, Stef. I can't believe you! You make me so angry sometimes!" she huffed, as she sat beside him, turning away from his direction.
"If you weren't too busy jumping baby vampires in our kitchen then none of this would've happened. I'm still your older brother, Caroline. I don't appreciate you turning our home into a whorehouse" Stefan spat.
Caroline stared at her older brother, mouth agape in shock. Before she could retort, Klaus stepped in and cleared his throat, drawing both their attentions onto him.
"Sorry to interrupt your display of sibling affection but mine is currently out of control with bloodlust. Anyone care to help?" he drawled, quickly gesturing to the struggling blonde in his arms.
Stefan sighed and stood up. He walked towards the siblings and cupped Rebekah's face. Klaus eyed him suspiciously as he watched Stefan demand his sister's full attention.
"You're going to calm down, Rebekah. You've already had your fill of blood for the day. Now go sit down. You understand me?" Rebekah nodded in response. "Good girl" Stefan said, grinning down at the blonde.
Klaus felt her relax in his arms as she straightened her gait and made her way to one of the couches. Klaus followed her, but not before throwing Stefan a quick glare.
"So it's true then" Klaus said, breaking the silence between the four vampires.
The other three occupants in the room directed their questioning gaze at him as they waited for him to elaborate. Klaus merely rolled his eyes as he took a sip from his tea.
After the feeding of the maids fiasco, Caroline had summoned the remaining maids to clean up the mess and re-make the obviously ruined tea in the kitchen. It took all four compelled maids to dispose all the bloodied up corpses strewn on the floor.
"That an original vampire can compel other vampires." Klaus said nonchalantly. On the outside, he tried to pass off as uninterested, but on the inside, he was almost begging for confirmation for what he had witnessed earlier.
Caroline shrugged. "I suppose. We originals do enjoy a certain number of luxuries that are certainly not included in the average vampire's bag of tricks"
"Interesting. What would be those tricks then, love?" Klaus asked, this time not bothering to hide his curiosity.
Klaus was staring straight at Caroline, reading her body language for any signs of deceit. He noticed a sudden tenseness in her shoulder and the slight darkening in her eyes. Before she could answer his question, the older male vampire in the room chuckled under his breath.
"What's so funny, mate?" Klaus asked, as he allowed himself to tear his gaze away from Caroline and momentarily redirect it to Stefan.
Stefan merely grinned predatorily and said, "You ask an awful lot of questions, mate. The funny thing is you try to pass it off as something unimportant when I can easily see right through you. I bet you're just drooling to know the answer to your question".
Before he could get in a word or two in his defense, he was suddenly pinned against the wall with Stefan's hand slowly crushing his throat. He looked over at Rebekah in alarm but saw that she was lying unconscious on the ground, with her body at a grotesque angle. Caroline was dusting off her hands as she moved to straighten her sundress.
"You broke her neck!" he shouted, or at least he tried. It came out as a strangled cry, causing Stefan to clamp down on his neck even tighter.
"You may have won my sister's affections with your suave British ways but you of all people should remember that family will always come above all" Stefan snarled as Klaus glared back.
Caroline sighed as she watched Stefan continue to crush Klaus' windpipe. She walked to the nearest liquor cabinet and pulled out a glass and a bottle of bourbon. She poured herself a straight shot and down the liquid in one gulp. With renewed her vigor, she set aside the glass and walked towards the male pair.
"Let him go, brother" Caroline demanded, as she stood behind Stefan.
Stefan turned his head to look at her and saw the burning determination in her eyes. He rolled his eyes at her before letting go of the younger vampire.
Before Klaus could gather his senses, he was once again pushed against the wall. This time, it had been the well manicured nails that were digging into the flesh of his neck. His eyes snapped down to meet his attacker's, and he suddenly realized his mistake.
"Tell me everything you know about us" Caroline compelled.
Releasing the hold she had on him, she turned around and sat on the sofa once more. Stefan had already re-taken his previous spot with his own glass of bourbon in hand.
Klaus frowned at the Salvatore siblings as he made his way back to the sofa as well. He came across Rebekah's body and lifted to lay her down on the couch.
"I don't know much, only of what I've been told. There are five originals. The Original Hybrid, The Original Salvatore Brothers, The Original Vampire Hunter, and The Original Witch. Did I miss anyone?" Klaus asked, anger building up in him at Caroline's compulsion.
At the mention of their sister, Caroline's mind drifted to the days she spent as a human.
The conversation she had with Ayanna a few days ago had left her terrified. She had learned from experience to put her faith in Ayanna's warnings as they had previously served her well. Before she had left her old friend's house, she had made it a point to casually borrow older witch's grimoire while coming up with a lame excuse about dispelling Caroline's recurring nightmares.
That night, she found a spell that could grant immortality. The only thing that made her resolve waver was the fact that the spell required a human sacrifice. She could not possibly impose that fate on another human being. There had to be another way. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard giggling just a few steps of her hiding place.
She had been hiding in the clearing just a few steps from her hut, intent on keeping her current mission a secret. She closed the grimoire and held her breath, as she moved to conceal herself better behind the nearby trees. Voices and footsteps began to resonate louder and Lexi willed herself to keep as quiet as she could.
"Tatia, my dear, I would certainly miss you" a male voice said, his words slurring slightly.
Lexi clutched the grimoire tighter in her hands as she sneaked a peek at the couple intruding on her privacy. She had to place a free hand on her mouth to keep from letting a gasp fall from her lips. In the clearing stood Tatia and the village's blacksmith, who was very much married with five children of his own. Based on their intimate touches, Lexi could only assume that this was not a friendly meeting but that of lovers'.
"I'm not going anywhere, my love." Tatia said, as she ran her hand down the man's arm.
"That maybe so, but Stefan has already asked Alaric permission to have you as his intended. Even though Alaric seemed hesitant at first, we knew that he couldn't deny his son. That means our fun is slowly coming to an end." The man said, as he moved to lean on one of the trees, clearly struggling with his balance.
Tatia took this opportunity to press her body against his as she smiled seductively at him. "Stefan will make a wonderful husband. He cares for me, and is obviously able to take care of me as he is the village leader's son. However, that doesn't mean that you and I shan't have fun any longer." She said, as she captured the man's mouth with hers.
Something in Lexi snapped as the brunette's words sunk in. She made herself known to the couple, eliciting shocked expressions. Before either of them could speak, she concentrated her thoughts on the spell she previously learned from Ayanna about incapacitating someone for a few moments by rendering them unconscious. In seconds, two bodies staggered down the dirt of the clearing, eyes closed but still breathing.
Lexi dragged Tatia's unconscious body deeper into the woods. Once she was far enough from the village, she set Tatia's body against the nearest tree and looked around for the sharpest edge she could find. She had nothing on her person as she was not planning on doing a spell when she had ventured into the clearing that night.
That was when she spotted it. It was a discarded arrow head, probably from one of the men in the village who ventured that far enough to hunt for food. It was lying on the ground, slightly glistening from the moonlight. It wasn't as sharp as her knife back in her hut but it would have to do for now. She quickly retrieved it from the forest floor and made her way towards the unconscious girl.
Tatia groggily stirred awake, as memories of the last few moments began to flood her mind. She opened her eyes to see Lexi standing over with a long stick that seemed to glisten at the end. Her pulse rose as she realized what exactly was in the blonde's hand. She tried to shuffle away from the other woman but before she could, Lexi had already jabbed the arrow in the brunette's beating heart.
Lexi twisted the arrow in Tatia's chest as the latter stared up with a pained expression. The blonde watched as the life started to drain from the other woman's body. She took the moleskin pouch she always carried in her dress and discarded the water that it held. She slowly pulled out the arrow and painstakingly gathered Tatia's blood until the pouch was full.
Despite the distance from the village, she didn't want to risk a hunter accidentally venturing onto where she stood and finding Tatia's gradually composing body. She knew she had to bury her and let the earth take care of her business.
"Have you happened to see Tatia this morning, sister?" Stefan asked, as he approached his eldest sister.
Lexi looked up momentarily at him before resuming her hand washing. "I do not make it my business to know Tatia's whereabouts, dear brother".
Stefan frowned slightly. He knew he couldn't expect more from his older sister as he was aware of she did not hold the brunette in the same regard as he did. As he walked away, he heard Lexi's voice call out to him in the distance.
"Do not forget your moleskins, brother. Here, take these and give one to father and Damon. All of you will need all the hydration you can get if you expect to catch anything for supper". Lexi said, as she handed three moleskin containers to Stefan.
Stefan smiled at the gesture and kissed his older sister on the forehead before walking down his intended path.
Lexi looked on worriedly at her brother and back down to her hands. No matter how she scrubbed, she couldn't seem to manage to get the scent of Tatia's blood off her hands. She walked back to the make shift area outside of their hut where they prepared their food.
She leaned heavily over the sink, heaving dry vomit. She felt as if her intestines would rise out through her mouth and yet nothing came out, no matter how much she tried.
After her preparations and actual execution of the spell, she laced their family's entire water supply with Tatia's blood. She had personally ensured that her father and siblings drank all of the water that was in the big clay pot stored inside their hut. She had made her decision and she was sticking by it.
Lexi had always found it easy to fall asleep from the exhaustion brought on by daily chores, but lately, she had grown restless with guilt from taking another person's life. Ignoring the full moon, she roused her younger sister awake.
"Caroline, wake up" she said, needing someone to confide to.
Caroline shifted in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. The younger blonde had always been a light sleeper. "What is it, sister?" she asked, unable to contain the yawn that accompanied it.
"I have done something unforgivable" Lexi whispered, instantly feeling the weight on her shoulders slightly lessen. Saying it out loud to another person had granted her a glimpse of the lightness she was speaking.
Caroline furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to discern her older sister's words. "Whatever you did, sister, I am confident that you had your reasons. I can sense your hesitation in telling me exactly what it was that you did, and I am here to tell you that you can tell me about it when you're ready. In the meantime, I am here for you in your time of need". She said, as she rose and moved to sit on her older sister's bed.
Before Lexi could pull Caroline in an embrace, they heard screaming and growling outside of their tents. It was this time that Lexi glanced at the full moon and realized their fate. Caroline took notice of the ongoing chaos outside and shifted closer to her older sister.
"What's happening, Lexi?" she asked, her voice slightly breaking from fear.
Lexi could only look down sadly at her younger sister before whispering, "They're here".
Rebekah began to gain consciousness as she shifted to gain a better position. Her neck felt like it had been violently snapped. Realization hit her milliseconds before a masculine hand wrapped around her sore neck. She willed her eyes open to stare directly at the male Original's eyes.
"You will sit down and remain seated. You will not interfere. Do you hear me?" Stefan asked, as his eyes dilated. Rebekah could only nod in response, taken in by his compulsion.
From the other side of the room, Klaus glared at the older vampire as he witnessed him compelling Rebekah once more.
"Why do you want to know more about my family?" Caroline asked, willing Klaus' attention back to her. She had him currently pinned against one of the living room pillars, a hand around his neck keeping him in place.
"Knowledge is power, sweetheart. Be best to remember that" Klaus replied cheekily, refusing to succumb to the Original's torture methods.
"Were you sent by my father?" Caroline growled, annoyed at the younger vampire's cheek.
"No, but I've heard from Katerina that he's on his way to Chicago". Klaus said, as he grasped the hands on his neck. His attempts to pull her off had been futile but he refused to go down without a fight.
Caroline suddenly released him as if touching him had burned her. She threw a panic look towards Stefan as the male Original only nodded in response.
"You will sit beside Rebekah and not meddle any longer. You will only move again once I tell you to" Caroline said, grabbing Klaus' face and forcing it to stare back at hers.
Klaus nodded as he took the seat beside his sister as he helplessly watched the Original siblings decide his and Rebekah's fate.
"We have to kill them, Care. They know too much" Stefan said, throwing the incapacitated siblings a disinterested look.
Caroline stared at Klaus and saw the panic in his eyes at Stefan's words. "I know what to do. You're right, Stef. We need to kill them. It's the only way. But I want to do the honors. Let me get something first" she said, as she walked out of the living room.
Stefan nodded at his younger sister as he watched her made her way to the basement. Once she was out of sight, he turned to the siblings currently glaring at him as they sat obediently on the living room couch.
"It's nothing perso-" Stefan tried to say, only to be surprised at the painful sensation in his chest. He looked back to see Caroline with tears in her eyes as she silently imbedded the dagger deeper into his heart. His body began to turn grey as Caroline stepped away from the damage she had caused.
With renewed determination, she approached the seated siblings and demanded their attention. "You will forget everything pertaining to our family. You will forget ever meeting us in Chicago. You will only remember when I tell you to remember" she said, as more tears ran down her face. "Now, leave us".
The pair simply nodded before exiting the mansion in vampire speed.
Tears continued to pour despite Caroline's feeble attempts to stop crying. Once again, she was left all alone.
Author's note: No cliffhangers! Only promise of a 2012 reunion with the Mikaelsons. I wonder how that will go. Any guesses, sweethearts? ;)