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Chasing An Outcome

Chapter 8: The Brave Girl in New Orleans

A big smirk was plastered on at their reactions following his declarations. "Are you lost for words?"

"It's four against one!" Nathan shouted. In actuality he didn't think it mattered at all. This man was too powerful. "You can't take on the four of us!"

Lucien laughed in response. "A comedian! How nice. Joke's over however." His eyes turned blood red. "I'll be sure to make this slow and enjoyable."

With a flick of her wrist Freya made the glass covering the building beside Lucien shatter, sending the broken pieces to shower his body.

Nathan used the opportunity to hurl a nearby trashcan towards him with as much force as he could.

"Whoo," He sang as he emerged from the rubble, dusting his shirt. "You lot sure do provide decent entertainment. Unfortunately you ruined a perfectly nice shirt."

"Are you kidding me?" Nathan muttered upon seeing him. "He's not even fazed at all."

"So, can I have that box now or what?"

"How about you bugger off instead?" Kol retorted.

In a speed unnatural to any vampire Lucien sent Kol flying backwards with a punch. He sped to where the Original was attempting to stand on his feet and sent him skidding along the pavement with a hard kick to his ribs. "Do you recall how you used to torment me? Isn't it funny how the tables have turned?"

Kol aimed a punch but Lucien twisted it painfully to the side, breaking it and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Stop it!" Freya shouted and prepared her magic only for him to disappear from sight. She backed up and looked around. "Where did he go?"

Davina kneeled down by Kol. "Oh God, Kol..."

"It's nothing love," He replied with a weak smile. "I'll be fine."

Her brows furrowed when she came to a startling realization. "Kol, why aren't you healing?"

"Thank the ancestors," Lucien declared, appearing behind Freya and causing her to freeze. This only made him smirk. "Easy darling, you're awfully jumpy. Now I won't kill you without telling you how I'm at an advantage here. All thanks to the ancestors."

Kol managed to stand on his feet. "What are you babbling about?"

"Well they do despise you. You thought you entered here having the upper hand but instead you've only walked right into a trap. This place belongs to them and they have absolute control over it. For instance they can make it so that you heal at a snail's pace, ensuring you endure all the pain I inflict. So, which one of you would like to die first? Or shall I pick?"

Freya immediately cast a barrier spell.

"Haven't you any other tricks up your sleeve? I have to say women bore me when they're repetitive."

"Fuck you," She growled, disgusted by his behavior.

He only laughed in return before eyeing Davina. When she avoided his gaze he smiled. "You seem rather quiet. Are you afraid of me Davina?"

Noticing her panic Nathan stood protectively in front of her. "Back off!"

Kol followed in suit. "You and the ancestors are nothing but spineless parasites! You both use cheap tricks to outdo your enemies. It's no wonder you found one another."

"Hold your tongue worm," Lucien said, his mirth all but gone. "I think I'll dispose of you first."

"Not while I have this barrier you won't!" Freya retorted. "I can maintain this as long as I need to!"

"I wonder about that," He said, lazily running his hand across the invisible force between them.

Before Freya could even think of a retort her barrier disappeared. "What have you done Lucien?"

"Me? I had nothing to do with it. My buddies standing behind you though, I can't speak for."

They turned to be met with the ancestors standing on the road, blocking their path.

Davina's breath hitched. Fear consumed her and she avoided their gazes, which all seemed fixated on her.

"Shit, we're surrounded." Nathan muttered, standing closer to Davina. "This is bad."

Kol placed his unbroken arm around Davina. This was really bad. If they didn't think of something fast this place would become their tombstone.

Their protective nature towards Davina didn't escape Lucien. "You two are quite caring of Davina Claire. Wouldn't you just hate to lose her?"

"Fuck off!" Kol snapped. "I'll kill you if you try touching her!"

"With what? Your empty threats?" He laughed. "I know I said I'd kill you first but I've had a change of heart. That would be no fun at all. Instead, I have a better idea. I decided I want Davina all to myself."

"What did you just say!?" Nathan shot back. This man utterly repulsed him.

"You know what they say don't you," He smirked, malice displayed in his eyes. "Two's company but three is a crowd; and I'm afraid you're more than overcrowding here."

In that instant Freya tried to use her magic only to realize she was unable to. She couldn't produce a single spell, as if something was preventing her.

Nathan found himself in the same situation. "What the hell? My magic?" He turned to the ancestors, knowing they were behind this. "I'm going to kill all of you!"

"That's enough out of you." Kara said, and with a snap of her fingers he was gone along with Freya.

"What did you do?" Davina questioned in fear.

"They were merely shown the exit love," Lucien answered, keeping his eyes on her. "They'll get their turn. Just not yet. For now my business is with you."

Kol charged at him. "I'm ripping your head off!" A force suddenly bound his legs together and he fell on his face midway. He thrashed and thrashed but it was useless. The ancestors were restraining him.

Lucien grinned mockingly. "That didn't go as planned now did it?"

"You disgusting vermin! I'll tear that grin right off your pretty little face!"

"Still ever the talker I see," Lucien approached him and slammed his boot over his head. "A good dog knows when to stay down."

"Stop it!" Davina pleaded. Her fear was spiraling as she watched him kick Kol. "Leave him alone!"

In one quick instant Lucien appeared before her. He made sure to stand closer than was necessary. "I see you're eager to witness what I have in store for you."

"You don't fucking touch her!" Kol shouted. Through the burning pain he began crawling towards Davina.

"How is he doing this? He shouldn't be able to move at all!" Kara exclaimed in disbelief. She narrowed her eyes and poured even more pressure down upon Kol.

Kol fell to the floor in pain. His body felt like it was carrying an entire truck. "That all you got?" He strained out. "You fossils!"

"Stop it Kol!" Davina shouted. What was he hoping to accomplish by pissing them off?

His comments only infuriated Kara. She lifted him up before dropping him back down to the ground, making sure he landed on his broken arm.

This caused Kol to spit out blood.

Tears were blurring Davina's vision. Instinctively she rushed towards him but a hand held her in place.

"Going somewhere? Sit tight and enjoy the show darling." Lucien said with a sadistic grin.

Kara smirked at his beaten state. "Are you done yet?"

"Hardly, you hag," He groaned. The sensation of moving his legs was excruciating. His arms were no longer responding though so it was all he could rely on for any sense of movement.

"Slithering on the ground like the worm you are," Lucien mocked. "How fitting."

In the midst of his pain Kol smirked. "Don't you find it funny Lucien? You went from being Niklaus' dog to being the ancestors' dog. Quite poetic for someone who pathetically yearns for superiority."

That comment snapped a chord in Lucien. He vamp sped to where Kol was and began mercilessly kicking him. "You cocky little rodent! I've all but grown tired of you!"

Every grunt of pain Kol released felt like stabs in the heart to Davina.

Move Davaina, move, move, She repeated in her head. Do something you coward! But her body was rooted to the ground in fear. "Stop it! You're hurting him!"

Lucien stopped. "Aah, right. Guess I was overdoing it. Forgive me dear but the turd has a way with pushing his luck. Sometimes a good beating is exactly what is required to prove a point. It allows for trash like him to remember their place."

"Wait till I get my hands on you," Kol growled. "I'm going to slowly yank your heart out."

Lucien leaned down and roughly lifted Kol's head so that he was staring at his face. "First I'm sending you out of here. Next I'm going to rip your precious Davina's head off. Once that's done I'll return to kill your family, but I'll be sure to leave you for last. I've got special plans for you." He shoved him back to the ground before dusting his hand off. "Bye for now."

With that Kol was gone leaving Davina all alone.

Lucien turned so that he faced her. "And then there was one."

Before Davina could process anything hands grabbed her arms; in a flash the scenery changed right before her. She was now standing in an alley between two buildings. A brick wall behind her and Lucien standing in front of her blocked any sort of exit. It took only moments to figure out he'd taken her here with his speed. The monster no doubt chose this closed space to make her feel even more cornered than she already was.

"Now we can begin."

Davina took a step back, hating herself for fueling his enjoyment. She clutched the box close to her chest. She knew he purposely allowed her to keep it; because he wanted the satisfaction of prying it out of her grasp himself. The sick, twisted bastard.

"Are you afraid of me Davina?" He repeated his previous question, taking a step forward and eventually backing her against the wall.

She flinched when he cradled her face in his palm in a cruel mockery of a caress; it firmly held her in place. Davina's words cowered inside her, refusing to make a stand just like her.

"I love this expression on you," He smiled, but she could see the inhumanity behind it. "It reminds me of the same expression Camille wore right before I barged into her home. The poor thing."

Davina wanted to look away but her pathetic strength paled in comparison to his.

"That's what happens when you make the wrong friends though Davina."

Davina could almost detect a hidden message in his words. It was as if he was talking from experience. It wasn't too far of a stretch since she was sure he regretted ever becoming acquainted with Klaus.

"I'm going to take that box now."

She hid it behind her back -an absolute joke of a defense mechanism- and away from his sight. "No! Y-You... You can't have it!"

Unfortunately her poor resistance only added to his sick sadistic pleasure. He leaned in uncomfortably closer. "Do you remember my confession to you?"

Her body was trembling now.

"Unfortunately it seems you made the same mistake as both Camille and Niklaus."

"What do you mean?" She asked in barely a whisper.

"Like Camille you've made the wrong friends. And what you share with Niklaus is far worse. You are hindered by love. By the way, just like your Cami you have terrible taste," He joked cruelly. He removed his hand from her face only to twiddle with a strand of her hair, relishing the fear in her eyes. "I told you that being unencumbered by petty feelings is what makes me far superior to you and your friends."

Davina frowned suspiciously. There was a hole in his speech. "Would you have said this if Aurora had lived?"

He stopped entirely, hand still frozen in her hair.

"Do you reject the idea of having important people by your side not just due to Klaus leaving you, but because Aurora did too?"

He pushed her against the wall, baring his fangs. "I am who I am because I was tossed aside. But it woke me up to reality. Having ties like that only turns you into a pathetic mess. Look at the time you wasted mourning that pitiful bartender."

Davina gasped. A painful sting jabbed her heart at the coldness in his voice. Yet there was something else his words had ignited, deep in the pit of her stomach.

"Did that joke of a hybrid suffer after Tristan killed her wolf? Oh wait, let me guess. She jumped right onto Elijah's bed didn't she?"

Her hands clenched. What was this she was feeling?

"Did Marcel suffer when he lost his darling Rebekah," He continued, venom seeping with every word he spoke. "Or how about the time you wasted crying over the fate of your worthless boyfriend? Surely it was a painful ordeal for you, no?" He scoffed. "Such a waste of time."

The feeling only intensified as he spoke.

"Think how your friends are helplessly attempting to get their lovely Davina back. Imagine how your poor Marcel will feel after I've killed you," He ranted on, not realizing that her shaking had stopped. "See what I mean darling? I don't associate with irrelevant feelings. Therefore I am spared from having to waste time crying and moaning whenever bonds are broken. That pain is nonexistent to me."

With a power she didn't even know she had, she sent him flying backwards. The reaction this garnered from him was one of total shock. "That diarrhea of the mouth of yours makes me so sick to my stomach! You go on thinking the whole fucking world revolves around you! You make it so easy to label you as nothing more than an insecure, selfish prick!"

Lucien gritted his teeth.

"Did I touch a nerve there?" She shot. "Let me tell you something you asshole," Her body willed its way to stand strong. "I'm not trash, my friends aren't trash. And I swear I won't let you hurt them. One way or another I will stop you, even if I have to kill you! I'm not scared of you anymore!"

"You little... I don't know where this newfound spunk suddenly come from but it's pointless. Why bother when you know you're no match me?"

Briefly she closed her eyes- recalling Cami's friendly smiles, her warm embrace, her kind words- before opening them to send him a cold look. "Because you killed Cami. I won't ever forgive you for that."

"If you love her so much I'll reunite you!" Lucien snarled as he made his way towards her. "I'm still stronger than you dear. And I'm still taking that box."

"Your arrogance is so unappealing it actually offends me," Davina smirked. "You think I'm trapped here but looks like your buddies forgot one important thing."

"Oh please, enlighten me as to what it could possibly be?"

Davina began concentrating, thinking back to something Ariane had taught her.

"Focus on what you love most. Recall the thing that makes you want to live."

It wasn't only Kol she was fighting for. A life with him wasn't all she was aiming for. Marcel; Nathan; Josh; Vincent; they were all counting on her.

"...Fight with that in mind."

Davina smirked. "That I don't need to be linked in order to get out of this place."

She took every drop of satisfaction that came from seeing his priceless expression.

... ... …. …. ... ... ... …. …. ... ... ... ….

In something equivalent to vampire speed Davina shot upwards. Concerned pairs of eyes hovered above her. "You have no idea how tired I am of waking up like that."

Marcel quickly pulled her towards a hug. "I was so worried about you. When everyone woke up and you didn't I... I didn't know what to expect. I can't lose you Davina."

She returned his hug. "You don't need to worry Marcel." Pulling back she smiled. "Because you and I will never be separated."

His eyes filled with tenderness for the girl he had come to love like family. "Never."

"How did you come back?" Nathan asked as he clutched her hands. "The link was broken wasn't it?"

Josh nodded as the last question had been directed at him. "Yeah it was weird. I felt my hands burning and before I knew it I was knocked back." He pointed to the broken table. "You don't think Vincent will miss that will you?"

Davina sent him a small chuckle before answering what they were all wondering. "It was something I learned while working with Aya and The Sisters. You don't need to return to where you're linked to come back here. All it takes is to concentrate on what's most important to you, channel that energy and use it to get out. Of course I thought of all of you."

Pride swelled throughout Nathan. "I'm proud of you. I told you that you could become very strong Davina. A dad just knows these kinds of things you know."

"Thanks Nathan. Your words really were what I needed to believe in myself."

"What do we do now?" Josh asked. "The plan didn't work and they're kinda ahead in the score sheet."

Marcel crossed his arms. "Nathan told me the ancestors were responsible for Lucien being in there. How the hell did they figure us out so easily?"

"I'm not sure," Davina answered. "They must have suspected we'd try killing off two birds with one stone and anticipated we'd start with them. It was a long shot but, we had the right idea." She glanced at Marcel. "Before I go on can I borrow your phone? I need to check on Kol."

Marcel knew of how Kol had entered the ancestral plane to see Davina. He had to admit that he was at awe by the extreme measures Kol was going to for Davina's sake. "Yeah, of course."

His number was stored in her memory. She didn't need to see the contact list. It took only seconds before a familiar voice answered on the other end.

"You bastard! Because of your plan I have no idea if Davina's safe or—"

"Kol," She spoke, effectively silencing him. "It's me. I'm okay. I managed to get out and come back to my body." She heard him exhale.

"Davina, I..." Kol gritted his teeth. "Don't ever bloody scare me like that! You're such a hypocrite! You told me how much me running off hurt you and yet you go and run off on me!" He'd been genuinely scared back then. Now he was relieved, and really pissed.

And Davina understood his feelings. He had every right to be angry with her.

But all she wanted was to protect him. Ever since she realized he was cursed she'd felt an insufferable amount of fear that she'd lose him. Losing Cami was something she still hadn't fully come to terms with. It was simply inconceivable to believe she could handle another loss. And Davina was sure she'd fall apart if she lost Kol. It was too gut-wrenching to think about.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It was all she could say.

"Where are you?"

She hesitated, dread bubbling inside her. Images of his broken arm flashed across her mind. The sound of his pained voice as he was kicked and slammed echoed in her ears. The thought of Lucien sinking his teeth into Kol gripped her heart with such a force.

Her reluctance baffled him. "Are you kidding me!? You still want to keep me in the sidelines?"

"Look how easily Lucien beat you down Kol!" She shouted. "At any moment he could've bitten you and put you through the same torture Cami endured! Did you stop for one second to think about how I'd feel if I lost you? I can't even imagine a life without you!"

"That's how I feel too! But that doesn't matter to you does it!? Only your feelings count am I right?"

"I don't have the same level of risks as you! I told you that I have Nathan and Marcel, as well as Vincent by my side!"

"Only I can protect you!"

She was sure everyone on either end of the phone could hear their conversation. Well, except Nathan. In hindsight she was glad he couldn't hear. She did not need 'the talk'.

"Uh, if I may," Hayley cut in awkwardly.

"Not now," Kol replied sharply.

"I was just going to say that I think there's some business that needs to be dealt with. You know? Lunatic oldies and a psycho vampire? Ring a bell?"

"Well if Davina could be so kind as to cooperate we could all get along?" He said before returning his attention to the phone. "How does that sound darling? Can we all play nice?"

"You aren't quite helping either Kol. But that all falls under the category of young love." Klaus chimed in.

"This isn't some sandbox I'm keeping you from! Why is it so damn hard for you to understand?" Davina retorted. Did they think this was a joke? It wasn't even anger she was feeling anymore. It was a mix of both disbelief and despair. "None of you are immune to Lucien's bite!"

"Let them do what they want Davina," Marcel added with a frown. "If they want to avoid your warnings then so be it. Don't waste your breath."

The door abruptly opened and in came Vincent.

"Hey, what I miss?"

Author's Notes

Almost at our conclusion here guys! A few chapters left in this. Roughly 2-4 I'd estimate. In the meanwhile feed me reviews.