A/N: I apologize for these chapters taking so long. Its been much more of a challenge balancing almost 10 plus characters in these scenes coming up. So I hope it comes across well in these next couple of chapters till this mid book climax is complete.
All I can say is a line for another favorite show of mine that just finished its finale this week Prison Break. Just have a little faith...in what's coming and trust me that this will come around to an amazing Delena ending. Just not yet...
I'd love your thoughts and speculations on the Elijah's plan, Elena's escape, the werewolf bite our precious hero has now and the spell and how Caroline fits into stopping him. Excited to share this with you. I have had these ideas in my head for months already and its so much fun to see the detail make them come alive.
Klaus was standing outside, leaning against a tree by the long driveway. He had given his instructions, taken his plea to Elijah one last time only to be shot down predicatively. And now he was just waiting them out. Surely Damon would not let his brother die? Or himself? He knew Damon would come for him, for one of them to live. Of that he was certain. He was pretty sure as much in love with the doppelganger he was, that he would not leave her with neither of them.
He flicked the lighter in his hands on and off just watching the flame burst forth and fade away over and over. He just needed to get her alone and he knew things could work. He did not want to hurt any of them. Not if hurting them destroyed his happiness with Caroline. That was why he had let go of his idea of building a hybrid army and waking up his dormant side. All he needed was the strength to kill Mikeal once and for all and then he could live happily with Caroline. And Damon would have his family safe too. Damon would not even have a family if it wasn't for him.
The Original looked up, watching his vampire minions dousing the cabin with gasoline. He had instructed them to soak the garage too. Tyler and the witch were still in there but they had served their purpose. So if he didn't get Elena then his vampires knew what to do.
He straightened the collar on his jacket and ran his hand over his little back up plan in his pocket. Caroline had put on another of his shirts he had seen when he went back to the SUV under the guise of looking for another lighter. So he had grabbed up his jacket and threw it back on as he left her trapped there.
He was expecting his witches anytime now. Maddox and Greta. Greta would hopefully be able to tell him what the hell was happening to him and why he felt so dizzy and confused around Caroline especially lately. She always knew him more than he knew himself and was constantly keeping an eye on any signs of Mikeal. It had been quiet for a long time now but he knew it was only a matter of time and his witches would discover his connection to Caroline; his love and devotion to her. He needed to hide her from them as soon as possible.
His mind was still on his love and getting her safe when he saw Damon just dart out of the cabin carrying someone wrapped in a blanket. Elena. It had to be. They were running!
He motioned his head to a couple of his vampires and they took chase of him. They all had strict instructions not to harm the doppelganger and to bring her to him. But Klaus himself loved the chase and tucked the lighter in his pocket and was about to race off after the young vampire. He didn't care who else was still in the cabin. All he needed was her.
But something felt off, like his brother was trying to outsmart him somehow. He looked around more seeing where Damon had ran, but also looked back at the cabin, furrowing his brow. Was it just the doppelganger and her love that ran?
Klaus was ready to give chase and capture Damon and Elena once and for all when his brother raced out of the cabin too and he also carried someone wrapped in a thick blanket. Klaus' eyes darted back and forth, watching Elijah take off the opposite way that Damon had.
It was a shell game. He knew his brother had thought of that. He was trying to out think him. His head went back and forth deciding who would have her. Sending a bunch of his vampires after Damon he could have already been caught...but his brother was stronger. And the more he thought about it he knew she must be with him. He was the stronger protector so it only made sense. Damon was probably just the decoy. Ha! And they thought they were smarter than him.
Elena was leaning her head down on her knees, her sobs more muffled then as she lay curled up in a little ball with Damon's jacket around her from head to toe. She turned her head to the side inhaling his scent from the inside of the garment. She ached physically for him already and he had barely been gone for more than a minute.
The tears flowed as she whimpered his name. She was sick of all the pain and it didn't seem to end. She just let herself sob quietly against her legs, watching her tears slide down the thick black leather that was tucked around her. She was cocooned in Damon's jacket, as safe as he could make them, her and their babies...but he was gone. Risking his life for them to get free and safe.
Klaus cast one more glance at the cabin narrowing his eyes, his mind a flurry of thoughts wondering what his brother had actually done. He blurred himself right up to the doorway and stood still on the porch listening. He leaned his hands against the frame of the door and closed his eyes using all his focus on his vampire hearing, listening to any sounds inside. Would his brother and Damon actually leave her there, without them?
Elena was sobbing quietly and nearly gasped out loud as she felt a hand over her mouth, his other hand over his own lips shushing her. Elena's eyes were wide as she looked up into the fear filled face of Stefan.
Stefan was there? Right beside her. What was he so afraid of? She could hardly think knowing Damon was out there in the open and could be killed. Tear tracks were all down her cheeks as she looked into Stefan's worried face as he took his hand off her mouth and sped surprisingly fast to the bathroom and she heard him turn on the water tap slightly and then come back to her.
She blinked a couple times not even sure how he had managed to get all the way to the hall from his bed and then to the bathroom and back too. But here he was, right beside her and pulling her further down the hall and back into the bedroom. His eyes were frantic, his face whiter still than it had been from the werewolf bite but he was much stronger than she had seen him in hours. She watched him mouth a name to her and she had to blink away more tears to make it out.
Klaus. Klaus was there? Stefan had her pressed against the wall in the bedroom beside the door and she watched him sneak a peek around the doorway. His good hand was still up toward her making sure she knew to stay quiet.
Stefan knew his vampire hearing was failing, his perfect vision too. But he had heard a whoosh of air and then heavy breathing by the front door. If Klaus saw them it was all over. He leaned further just barely seeing the front door and almost gasped out loud seeing Jeremy flattened against the wall right by the door. He looked like he was frozen in that spot and must know Klaus was that close!
None of them made a sound as Stefan watched the Original just stand there with his eyes closed. He might have been seen when he peeked around the bedroom doorway but it was like Klaus was relying on his sense of hearing alone and blocking everything out. Could he hear Elena's shallow heartbeat?! He prayed that the slight running of the water from the tap would mask her breathing enough.
Stefan turned back to her. Elena's lip was quivering as she saw him open his arms to her and without a word she climbed into his embrace and lay her head down on the shoulder that did not have the torn up, blistered dying skin. He put his arm around her, his other hand back up to his mouth again warning her to stay silent. She was the only one there that was human and had that very distinct life giving sound.
Klaus stood there silently for a good couple minutes just blocking out all distractions, the wind in the trees, the sound of brush moving as animals scampered away, the crackling of the fire in the cabin, the sounds of yelling farther off likely near where Damon had run. He thought he could hear water running too inside the cabin. That was strange.
At first it sounded too like he heard someone but focusing more there was a sound but not of a heartbeat. It was dark and quiet. Maybe Damon had taken his brother in the other blanket? He knew Stefan was far too weak by himself. He had the werewolf toxin in him for over 24 hours already. He should be dead but obviously they had figured out a way to keep him alive so far. And the vampire he had just turned, the doppelgangers brother was the only other one left in the cabin and the last he saw of him Damon had snapped his neck to likely keep him from hurting Elena or anyone else.
So...there was no one in there worth staying around for. He would come back and get the witch and the werewolf later but for now it was time to finally get his doppelganger. Turning the way his brother had ran he almost ran into Maddox. He grabbed his most trusted warlock by the shoulders. Maddox ran his hand through his close shorn hair, his eyes focused on Klaus.
"Quick go after the vampire that went that way. The other vampires should have him by now. Bring him and his partner to me." The witch nodded and patted him on the neck. Klaus looked around. "Wait, where is Greta? I told you not to ever leave her alone."
Maddox pointed out towards the way back to Mystic Falls. He was a big burly warlock, strong and tall with dark hair and eyes. His power was unmatched and Klaus has chosen him after watching the man spar off in magic power with many a warlock back in New Orleans. He was the best and therefore he offered the man a place at his side. "She will be along. She felt something as we were driving and insisted on stopping to do a spell. I knew you wanted us here right away so I left her with the driver. She will be fine."
Klaus nodded squeezing his shoulder. "Fine. You better be right that she will be okay there. I will go after Elijah. He has evaded me long enough and its time to put him down finally. You, find the vampire Damon I sent you a picture of. He or my brother has the doppelganger and we cannot let them escape. Maddox nodded and ran off into the darkened woods the way Klaus had pointed as Klaus took off after Elijah.
Jeremy opened his eyes and let out a huge undead breath. He had almost had a heart attack when he was halfway down the stairs and then saw hands curling around the door frame! He flattened himself against the wall beside the door feeling his heart pounding hard in his chest. He never thought he would be thankful that he was a vampire ever in his now immortal life. But right now not breathing as strong as a human and having the ability to hold his breath extraordinarily long, he had kept Klaus from finding out they were still there.
He waited, listening and feeling his super hearing focusing one one thing at a time till he heard Klaus and another voice. He was leaving and they were going after Damon and Elijah. Maybe this trick actually would work? Once he heard them going away he finally let out his breath and raced to the back of the cabin.
Stefan was sitting on the floor with Elena, all wrapped up in Damon's leather jacket huddled in his arms. She had been crying he could see and he had no doubt she was terrified of what could happen to the man she loved out there.
"Hey Elena," her brother spoke quietly just in case there were any more ears on them. She looked up at him and nodded. "They are gone. I think it was a witch Klaus sent after Damon." He heard Elena whimper at that as he bent down to look her in the eyes. "I'm sorry Elena. He will be okay. He is fighting to make it back to all of you. He will fight like hell sis. Just have a little faith." Elena sniffled and nodded at him without saying a word. He could see she was so scared and her fingers were clutching at the thin tank Stefan had on.
Jeremy stroked her face. "Hey, El. We will get out of here and meet Damon okay? Just focus on your future with him k?" He knew how hard it would actually be for those hopes to be reality but he could not let her lose hope. "I'll go get Bonnie and Tyler and be right back okay? Just stay here and out of sight." He saw her nod shakily at him and he turned and headed back out of the cabin.
Looking around again making sure there was no one else left outside, he bolted out the back door and around the side of the garage. "Bonnie? Bonnie?" he called out pushing the door open. Jeremy skidded to a stop, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness in the garage. It was still only late afternoon but with how thick the clouds were in the sky it looked almost night out. He was not used to how clear his vision became in the dark and he quickly saw a figure moving and kicking, fighting their restraints. He ran closer and pulled the bag off their head.
"Tyler?" Jeremy gasped out. He looked around more. "Where? Where's Bonnie?" He put his hands on his head in frustration. "I don't understand. I thought she was with you." He looked around seeing Tyler holding up his chained hands.
"She got away Jer. I helped her with the ropes on her wrists and she faked still being unconscious the last time that vampire's creep was in here. So he didn't drug her like I think he did me." He flipped his hair back from his face and grabbed for the metal chains. "I think I can break them now. They were keeping we weak with wolfs bane and injected me with more before. But I think its wearing off by now."
Jeremy had not found anything that would cut the chains off him. The ax it seemed was no where when he had seen it in there before. "Well we have to hurry. Damon and Elijah bought us a window to get Elena out of here. So we need to go now!" He watched as Tyler grunted, growled and strained to get the chains to break. Finally one link loosened and he fought with all his supernatural strength and snapped the link and pulled the chains off him.
"What the hell is going on here. Why did that guy bring me here and take my venom?" He watched Tyler study him a second as he blurred back to him from running around looking for something to break his chains. "And how can you move so fast? Are you a..."
"There is no time for explanations now Tyler," Jeremy interrupted him. "Just trust me that we need to get Elena out of here safely and her babies. Stefan is dying and needs help too."
Tyler eyes bulged and Jer could still see the change on his face so clearly in the dark room. "Babies, dying? Elena's pregnant? Wow, how long was I out?" Tyler nearly fell back against the wall before steadying himself.
Jer grabbed his arm. "Later man. We need to get out of here!" He looked around outside again and seeing no one around raced back to the cabin with Tyler close behind. He turned back around looking all around. Where was Bonnie? There were too many enemies around them and she had not come back to the cabin. Where the hell was she?!
Bonnie's mouth had fallen open as she watched the blank page fill with words and symbols. Caroline was leaning over her and she had been studying the symbols and the language it was written in for what seemed like ages already. She had pulled her down and Bonnie now sat more or less on the floor in front of the back seats to stay out of sight.
"Sorry Bon but I can see more people out there all the time. You need to stay hidden and figure out that page. Nic must have gotten more vampires to help him. I need to stop him. He can't do this to Elena and Damon and those poor little babies and Stefan too. They are all suffering because of me."
"Its not your fault. Don't blame yourself for what Klaus is doing to all of us." Bonnie tried to assure her as her friend but was so focused on the grimoire she did not even look up when she spoke.
Care shook her head at her. "Yes it is. This is all my fault. He is doing this to save me from his father and I can't let that happen." She shivered and put her arms around her looking around for something warmer to wear. She had discarded his jacket and found another of his t shirt's laying on the back seat and put it on before but now she rooted around and picked up a dark grey hoodie and slipped it over her head. She was again enveloped in his scent as she struggled to focus on Bonnie and the spell book.
Caroline glanced back and forth seeing more movement further away. She could just barely see the cabin from where she was stuck sitting. "You have been pouring over that page forever already. Is it making any more sense? What does it have to do with me? How on earth could something a thousand years old have anything to do with me?"
She leaned back down satisfied that the coast was clear and studied the images herself pulling the hood over her head tucking her hair in it.
Bonnie looked back up at her friend. "It has everything to do with you Care. I've studied a couple grimoires already. Grams' one for sure and some of it was in Latin too. This looks like a combination of Latin and another language that is written in pictographs like the kind in ancient Egypt."
She pulled her hair back and secured it with a ponytail to keep it from falling in her face. "The page revealed itself when you and I had a connection at the same time. Like it needed you and a Bennett witch maybe to reveal its secret."
Caroline leaned in closer, still stuck in her seat. She hated being so helpless. "So what does it say? What about me is so special?"
"I haven't figured out everything yet but from what I can see, this is about the vampire curse on Klaus. It talks of a balance for the curse. A balance for the evil of his Original power." Her fingers poured over the symbols and ancient writing.
"The outer edges of the page, all the words in the border are about his history. That Klaus' mother, a witch created vampires to protect her children from the werewolves. She knew he would be more powerful than her other children so she created within the spell on him a balance of good to combat that power."
Bonnie pointed to the pictures that were in the middle of the page. "This image I saw when I touched you and the page at the same time. See look. When I saw the ropes in my vision one rope was strong and golden in color, like this one and did not rip apart." She pointed to the second picture. "And then this other weaker rope came and it was tugged at and fell apart. Then the strong golden rope started twining with the weaker plain one like this third picture. Then the last one here, it shows the plainer rope turning gold and it is not able to be broken once it is together with the gold one completely."
Caroline sucked in her breath. "You mean you saw the images on this page. These exact ones right here, in your mind, when I handed you the grimoire?"
Bonnie nodded her head rapidly. She turned to the next page and then back to the one before the blank one. "The other pages are spells too. This one before is the actual spell his mother must have used to turn her children into vampires. There are more spells too, like here," she turned back a few pages and showed Caroline the images of rings and sunlight. "This is the same spell I found in Grams grimoire. How to make daylight rings."
She sat back against the seat. "So thousand's of years ago they had known too how to walk in the sun. And it shows about a tree and vervain growing at the base of it. And so much more."
Caroline was still watching outside and it looked like people were moving away from the cabin. She had vampire super like vision and was sure she saw a glimpse of someone running from the cabin and the closer they got she realized it was Damon. He looked like he was coming right toward them before he veered off into the trees nearby. She had waved and tried to get his attention but he was carrying a blanket which blocked most of his view in her direction and he was not looking anywhere but forward. He looked intensely focused.
She put her hands down and ducked down out of sight, as she saw behind Damon there was a group of vampires hot on his trail. She could hear the snarling and yelling as they passed by quite close to the vehicle. Caroline was just barely peeking out the window and saw Elijah too was running but he looked to be going another direction and was also carrying someone in a blanket.
She sat there puzzled. Now she wasn't sure who had Elena with them but they were both racing as fast as they could away from the cabin. Likely away from Nic.
However Bonnie was still so focused in front of her, her head still down studying the crinkled, old papers in the grimoire. She suddenly gasped. "Caroline if I translated this right I think I know what sealed this spell! Just clarify one thing for me...you did blood share with him right? I mean I know you got his blood for Stefan. But did he drink yours too?"
Caroline bent down lower, watching where Bonnie was pointing to a picture of a knot on the side of the page as her mind was going in different directions about the danger and the spell and that she was somehow connected to all this too.
"Yeah um we did twice actually." She closed her eyes remembering the feeling of them blood sharing during their climaxes and how they had looked at each other and the love she had seen in his eyes.
She blinked to refocus on Bonnie. "We did...during um...sex both times. The second time was when I stole his blood to heal Stefan and he drank mine too. Why? What does that have to do with anything?" She did not understand anything. It seemed the more they uncovered, the more questions there were, about everything.
"This here is a blood knot." Bonnie traced the thin lines on the edge of the page as it twined into a figure 8. "I think blood sharing seals the spell, whatever it is. That part I still can't figure out. But it has to be about you. Why else would the page reveal itself only when you and I were touching it? It's like it needed a Bennett witch and YOU to show itself."
Bonnie's eyes snapped up to hers. "And even Klaus has not seen this page! If we can figure it out...this could be a way to stop him from hurting Elena and her babies!"
The branches whipped at his face, tearing at his smooth skin, making little trails of blood down his face, as Damon ran through the woods. He knew he had vampires and god knows what else after him, but he was determined to get as far away as he could before they caught up to him and found out he wasn't carrying the precious cargo that he was sure Klaus had told them all about.
The clouds were getting thicker and thicker and covering any light from the afternoon sky in more darkness. Maybe there was another storm coming like they had had the day before? If he wasn't a vampire he wondered if he could see enough in front of him not to trip on the rough uneven ground.
He ran faster than he ever felt like he had in his life and with each breath he felt his heart aching more and more. Because with each heaving gasp of air, he was running farther and farther away from his family. From everything that mattered to him in the whole world.
But the further he got, the more he was drawing the ones that wanted to hurt and kidnap his Elena away from her and his children. So as much as it hurt him to keep racing away from them, he knew he was doing the right thing for them.
Damon wiped the sweat from his forehead and pushed his body further, running faster and hearing the sounds of the vampires behind him fading back more and more. Elijah's blood was helping and he had not felt this strong in a long time, even despite the werewolf toxin running in his veins already.
He had no idea how long that burst of energy would last or how quickly the poison would flood his whole system though. It could be hours or mere minutes more. He remembered Klaus saying that injecting Jeremy right into his veins made the kill time so much quicker. And Jeremy after only a short time already had the dark black veins coming from his wound. It had taken Stefan more than a day for his to get that bad.
No, I couldn't have just been that simple. Jeremy's bite looked like it had been at the last stage of shutting down his organs already after only an hour or so. Klaus must have found a way to make it more lethal...faster somehow. And that was not something he needed to be thinking about now.
He clutched the blankets closer to him to protect his face after another branch just whipped against him cutting into his top lip. He grunted at the sting and tasted the blood as it dripped down into his mouth.
Hearing his pursuers quite far back he slid to a stop behind a tree. There was no other sounds. Maybe he had lost them? But that would not be good because then they could turn back around and go back to the cabin…back to her.
"Elena," he gasped out, missing her so much already. This had to work or they could all end up dead. "Please baby. You have got to get out of there quickly," he mumbled to himself.
He tried calling his brother. "Stefan? Can you hear me?" He waited for a response and heard nothing in his head. Maybe they were too far away? "Stef? Please tell me Elena and you made it out of there?"
He was as silent as he could be, blocking out any and all noise around him but he still could hear nothing back from his brother. Damn it!
He laid the blanket down against the tree, making sure it still looked all tucked in as a person and then made noise, shaking the tree and snarling and snapping a few branches with his bare hands. He ripped into his wrist and dripped the blood down the trunk of the tree as well as on the blanket; like chum in the water for the stupid sharks surrounding him. Then he darted back into the brush where he could still see the tree where he laid the blanket and waited for the vampire babies to find it.
Klaus probably just turned people since he had come to town. They really would not be a threat to him would they? But then he thought more, his head down waiting...just hearing the noises crashing closer. He would not have called older vampires would he? Stronger ones?
Damon shook his head, his jet black locks falling in his eyes before he brushed them back again. He did not even want to think of that. He had already promised Elena he would not go near Klaus but he knew that in order for him to live...he had to face that bastard again.
He leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes slowly. "Please Elena," he begged out loud as if somehow she could hear him. "Baby I need to know you are okay. You have to be okay."
Are people still liking this story and want me to continue? There is so much more to tell...