Present Day
"They'll be up any minute now," Elijah said as he leant against the door frame of the room. It was obvious that he was keeping an on Klaus, waiting for him to run but Klaus was far too stubborn to leave right now. "It'll be difficult for them," he added with a soft tone. "Especially for Finn, with all these changes since the last time he was alive. He'll be confused and he'll be furious with you for leaving him in there for so long."
"I'm more worried about Kol," Klaus muttered under his breath and pulled himself up from his seat to pour himself an unhealthy amount of alcohol. Kol had far worse a temper than any of them. The last time Klaus had put a dagger in his heart a whole town had been slaughtered which had led Mikael directly to him, of course that had been Kol's plan all along.
He was a vengeful little bastard.
"I'm sure once you tell him of what's happening he'll contain himself from doing anything drastic like last time. You know he cares for her. He won't put her in harm's way," Elijah replied. "Nor will he want to deal with Rebekah if he does," a faint smile tugged at the older vampire's lips as he thought back to how protective Rebekah became over Bonnie, especially once she became a vampire.
He believed that once Bonnie had returned things would be no different in terms of those two. They would pick up right where they left off. Her relationship with Niklaus, however, would be a different story and he knew his brother was well aware of that.
More so, Elijah knew Niklaus was afraid of what would come when she returned. He feared the worst, feared the one person to ever hold his heart would throw it back at him without a single thought, that she would never want anything to do with him after what he had become over the years, after what he had done here in this very town to Bonnie and her friends.
"At least it will work out well for one of us then," Klaus spoke practically reading his brother's thoughts.
"You have no way of knowing what she will do," Elijah told him. "You may be surprised."
"I won't hold my breath," Klaus said and put down his glass and picked up the bottle instead and just as it reached his lips, a crash was heard from downstairs.
The hybrid let out a sigh and looked down at the bottle in his hands.
"I will go down and speak with them, try to calm them down," Elijah said and straightened himself up. "I did promise you this day, after all."
Klaus took a long pull of the bottle still in his hands before walking out the door and passed his brother. "Let them have their fun," he smirked and sped into the rooms that contained the coffins. Once there, he saw both coffins tipped over and his brothers tearing into the blood bags he and Elijah and left behind for them.
Both of them looked up when they heard him walk in and he almost laughed when matching growls escaped them.
"Niklaus," Elijah warned as he entered the room. "Don't provoke them." He could only do so much to stop them both tearing into their brother and if Niklaus wanted to bait the two of them, then he could deal with the repercussions on his own.
The blood bag dropped from Kol's hands as he sent a lethal glare in Klaus' direction.
"One hundred years, brother," Klaus answered his unspoken question. He then looked over Kol's head to Finn. "It's been nine hundred for you, Finn."
Elijah let out a sigh before moving away from Klaus and towards the edge of the room. If this was how he was going to deal with today, then so be it. But he will deal with it on his own.
Kol got to him first and Elijah saw Finn grab for the dagger that had been placed on the table at the back of the room.
"That will not work on him, Finn," Elijah told him. Finn was the only one who didn't know now about Klaus' immunity to the dagger. The first time it was used on Finn was also the last. Klaus never removed it all those years ago. "His wolf side gives him immunity from it," he gave a quick explanation.
"It will still hurt," Finn sneered.
"That it will," Elijah leant against the wall and let him continue on and he turned back to Kol who was currently using their brother as a rag doll, throwing him across the room, laying in hard kicks while he was down.
Finn soon joined the two of them and Klaus screamed out as Finn shoved the dagger right through Niklaus' heart. Elijah looked down at his watch and decided he would give his two brothers' a bit longer to extract their pound of flesh before he intervened to tell them what was going on.
At least their awakening would be met with good news.
"Where is our sister?" Elijah heard Kol question Klaus after a few more kicks, throws and stabs. "Do you have locked up, too?"
"Rebekah is with us," Elijah spoke up, deciding now to intervene. "She's currently out right now."
"Out?" Kol arched a brow.
"She's waiting for a friend to return home," he responded lightly.
"Rebekah has a friend?" Kol nearly laughed. "She hasn't had a friend since Bonnie."
Elijah let a smile form on his face. "And that is who is returning home."
Matching looks of confusion crossed Finn and Kol's faces. "Bonnie's been dead for over nine hundred years," Kol said. "That's not possible."
"Was she turned?" Finn questioned and threw an accusatory gaze to Niklaus who gave him a scoff.
"Don't give me that look; I never gave Bonnie my blood. Unlike you with Sage," he smirked. "What were you two doing anyway? We didn't know we could turn others. Into a bit of blood play, are we brother?"
Finn let out a growl but Elijah laid a hand on his shoulder to hold him back from attacking.
"She was not turned," he answered the question. "Bonnie is a witch but she was never from our time."
Elijah motioned for Klaus to take over from him; he knew the answer better than he did.
"Bonnie was only born nearly eighteen years ago. She's a witch, a descendant of Ayanna."
"Ayanna?" Finn repeated and Klaus nodded.
"But her family died, she came to live with Tamara," Kol corrected, not quite understanding what his brothers were telling him
"Cover story," Elijah told him. "Tamara and Godric were spirits; they were guiding Bonnie on a mission."
"Bonnie lives with her father here in Mystic Falls. Today was the day she got sent back to when we were human. She's due back in a few hours. Rebekah is waiting for her," Klaus gave them a vague explanation.
"None of that makes any sense," Kol glared at Klaus. "You haven't mentioned her since the day we all left. Why are you brining her up now?"
"I know all this seems impossible, Kol, even by our standards, but it is true. I've seen Bonnie with my own eyes," Elijah said and stood between Kol and Klaus before any more damage to the room could occur.
"What was she sent back for?" Finn questioned his two brothers.
Elijah turned to Klaus like the others did. He didn't know the answer to that question but surely Niklaus did.
The hybrid gave a shrug. "Still trying to figure that out," he lied to them rather convincingly.
Elijah didn't know if it was the overwhelming circumstances they were experiencing but Finn and Kol seemed to accept his answer, Elijah, however, did not. He knew his brother was lying.
"Why don't I give our brother's the basic information then perhaps later you can go into more detail?" Elijah suggested to them. He didn't know the full story yet so he could only give them what he knew, but at least they would respond better to him than to Klaus.
"Fine by me," Klaus grumbled and wiped the dust from the walls from his shirt.
"But first why don't we let our brother's freshen up and get themselves comfortable," he said and motioned for his two brothers to follow him, leaving Niklaus to his own devices.
xxx
Past
Bonnie found the entire doppelganger mythology incredibly interesting, having met three of them in her time and noticing how similar yet how different they all were. Whenever Bonnie noticed Tatia in passing she couldn't help but observe the familiar face and compare her to both Katherine and Elena.
Bonnie learnt that all three of them shared similarities and if the stories Bonnie had heard of Katherine when she was human were true, then they all had the same personality, too. The young witch thought that a doppelganger was just a shadow shelf, a copy of a face but that was it. She didn't know just how deep the similarities ran.
One thing was for certain, the Petrova doppelganger's seemed to enchant men at every turn. It would be impossible for Tatia to not notice the men stair as she walked passed them and she had certainly captured Elijah's full and undivided attention whenever she was near him.
"You look as if you know her," Bonnie heard Esther say and the older woman stood next to her.
"She reminds me of someone I knew back home," Bonnie said to her. "It's almost frightening how alike they are," she added aloud before she could stop herself. She wasn't supposed to be telling anyone of the future, especially to someone like Esther who knew of her situation but she couldn't help with the occasional slip.
Esther, however, knew what she was doing. She had been waiting for the perfect moment to capture Bonnie alone around the presence of Tatia in hopes of gaining a little more information on the girl. Bonnie said she was a doppelganger and in magic, that meant a loophole to a spell of great importance. Bonnie being sent back here and to where there was a doppelganger of someone she cared about was no coincidence.
Unfortunately, Bonnie was not as forthcoming with her as she was with Ayanna but any little detail would help Esther greatly at this moment.
"Tatia is a lovely girl," Esther lied through her teeth. She hated the girl; she didn't believe her worthy of Elijah, not when she had a child without a husband. Everyone knew her of her reputation and it wasn't a very good one.
"Elijah seems to care a lot for her," Bonnie commented and looked up to the older witch. She knew Esther was lying. Though her tone was convincing, she couldn't mask the hatred in her eyes as she looked upon the brunette flirting with her son.
"My son will make a woman very happy one day," Esther responded with a forced smile. "Just as you make Niklaus," she added, this time the smile seemingly a little more genuine. Bonnie didn't know if that was trick or not.
"He's wonderful and I care for him a great deal," Bonnie said and quickly spotted the man in question speaking with Kol a little way away. She couldn't even try to stop the smile that formed when he looked up and met her eyes.
She could feel a faint heat in her cheeks as the events of the previous night flashed through her mind.
It was an incredible night that they shared together and one that she wouldn't soon forget. She could still feel every touch, every kiss, hear every gently word that he whispered into her ear. Whatever hopes Bonnie had been holding onto to stop herself from falling for Klaus had disappeared last night.
Bonnie was already hopelessly in love with him. However, she couldn't bring herself to think about what that meant for her when she would return home. Surely Klaus would know of this, remember her being in his life once upon a time and yet he still tried to kill her.
"Contrary to what my husband believes, Niklaus is a good man. I am happy for the both of you," Esther said and placed a hand on Bonnie's shoulders. "I want all my children to find happiness."
Esther hoped that by giving her blessing for the blossoming love between her son and the witch, if would give the two of them a sense of trust and perhaps allow Bonnie to feel she can speak to her freely without the burden of secrets and maybe she could even gain Bonnie's assistance.
She left the younger witch not much longer later and sought out her husband. He greeted her with a kiss to the cheek. He had been very attentive to her since the death of their youngest son.
"I may have an idea that will work better than waiting for the girl to reveal what you want," he said and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "Why don't you contact the Spirits?" he suggested to her. "There must be one that can assist us. You can perform the ritual, speak to them. One of them must know something."
"They may not help us," she said. If Tamara and Ayanna would not help her, she doubted that others would want to. "What we wish to do is something that goes against everything the Spirits teach us."
"You will never know unless you summon them," Mikael replied and leant in to place a kiss to his wife's forehead. "Tell me what you need and I will prepare for the ritual."
xxx
"Is there something I should be aware of?" Ayanna questioned Tamara as soon as she found the Spirit wondering around the woods. "I know something is wrong and if it has to do with my descendant I should be made aware."
"Bonnie may be your family but that doesn't give you the right to information you cannot know," Tamara replied as she turned to face the witch. "If it is Bonnie's wellbeing you are concerned for then let me assure you that she will come to no harm."
"Forgive me if I am not convinced by your words," Ayanna narrowed her eyes at the other woman.
"Your concerns are noted, Ayanna but I cannot tell you anything and you should know that. Not even Bonnie is aware of why she is here yet," Tamara said. "And when she is made aware then so will you. You two are connected here, after all."
It was Bonnie's family connection to Ayanna that helped keep her strength and power in this time. The Spirits could only do so much for her here.
"I assume next you will ask of me to let Esther continue on with this impossible vendetta to protect her family?"
Ayanna was still stunned to hear what Esther had wanted to do; she had kept her distance from her friend since, hoping that some time alone might clear her head and allow her to see the impossibility of what she was speaking of.
"You need to let Esther do what she feels she needs to," Tamara answered. "I understand your fears for your friend, but you need to step back and let her go through with whatever she has planned. Only her own failure can make her see her mistake."
"And what if she succeeds? What she wants is unnatural and goes against everything we stand for," Ayanna countered. "How can you stand here and allow her to continue?"
"Because it is what we have been entrusted to do," Tamara gave Ayanna a comforting smile and began to lead Ayanna back to the village. "You needn't worry yourself, Ayanna. Trust that we have this under control."
"You will come to me if something goes wrong," Ayanna said and Tamara nodded.
"Of course. You will be the first one I come to."
Ayanna gave a nod but didn't fully accept the outcome of their conversation but she left it anyway, knowing she wouldn't get anything out of a Spirit sworn to secrecy.
"Everything is going according to plan, I assume," Godric said as he neared Tamara after Ayanna walked away from her.
"It always does," she smiled to him. "Esther is on the right path to finding what she wants; Bonnie's bond with the rest of the Mikaelson's and Ayanna is growing."
"Not to mention her relationship with the hybrid," Godric added and his eyes flickered over to where Bonnie and Klaus were standing. "You are not concerned about the two of them?" he asked his partner.
"Why would I be?" she responded.
"I know I'm only here to assist you, Tam," Godric said and turned to face Tamara once again. "I only know what's going on with Esther. I don't know the full story here but you do."
The woman gave him a comforting smile before she replied. "There isn't a thing you need to worry about. Everything that needs to happen is happening. It'll turn out just fine."
"I trust you," Godric said and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
xxx
They were alone down in the cave and she watched him carve drawing onto the wall with the blade in his hands, he was illuminated by the glow of the torch they placed nearby. She watched from the other side of the cavern, seated on the floor with her back resting as comfortably as it could against the rocky wall.
When Esther had left her side earlier that day, he came straight over to her leaving Kol mid-sentence. Bonnie had nearly laughed at the look on Kol's face when Klaus walked away from him.
The both of them had wanted nothing more than to share a kiss but they had decided to keep themselves private but as soon as they entered the cave, their lips connected almost instantly.
Bonnie subconsciously ran her tongue over her lips, enjoying the lingering taste of the long kisses they had shared before they parted.
Never in a million years did Bonnie think she would ever feel more than hatred for Klaus but being here, being with him in this time, before he became what he is in the present time, there was nowhere she'd rather be and no one she'd rather be with.
What they were doing was dangerous, who knows what this will change when she returns to the present but at the same time, it was perfect. She didn't want a single thing to change but she wasn't naïve enough to actually believe that.
It was all going to come crashing down around them very soon, she could feel it in her bones. It wouldn't be long now until Esther finally found what she needed to complete what she wanted and part of Bonnie wanted to stop that, prevent all the awfulness that would become of the existence of vampires but also prevent what would happen to the family she had grown to care for deeply.
xxx
"Have you everything I need?" Esther asked Mikael when she met him in the middle of the woods, a fair way from the village and away from prying eyes.
"Everything you asked for," he answered and stepped out of the circle he created with the ingredients requested. "All that is needed for you to do is light to circle," he said and handed her the torch.
Esther nodded and took the torch from her husband before she stepped into the circle.
"Shall I stay?" he asked as Esther let the flames of the torch touch the circle and they both watched as the flames traced around the outer circle, separating the two of them. Esther shook her head, the light of the flames bouncing off her hair.
"I think it is best that I do this on my own," she said and handed the torch back to Mikael who gave her a nod.
Esther watched her husband's retreating form before she sat down in the middle of the circle. She breathed in deeply before she closed her eyes and focused on the power of summoning the Spirit she needed.
The witch focused on what she wanted. She focused on her family, her desire to keep them safe from the wolves and any other creature that could bring them harm. She projected those thoughts and wishes to the Spirits and hoped one of them would answer her.
There wasn't any particular Spirit she was contacting, but anyone of who would listen to her, anyone that would be able to aid her in what she wanted or at the very least put her in the right direction.
Esther didn't know how long she had been sitting there, could have been minuets, could have been hours but something finally happened - a voice inside her head. Someone had answered her pleas.
"Can you help me?" she asked the Spirit aloud. The flames surrounding her burned brighter.
Yes, they answered and Esther flinched from the voice speaking inside of her mind.
"Is what I want possible?"
Yes.
"How?"
Blood of an innocent. Death to those who consume.
"Death to those who consume?" Esther repeated the words. "Do you mean we must kill them?"
Yes. They must die while the blood of the innocent courses through them and they will rise once again. Human blood will complete the transition.
"What will they become?"
Exactly what you want them to be; powerful, immortal. Be warned, Esther, witches cannot be both. Pick your own path carefully.
"What will I need to complete this spell?"
xxx
Mikael was waiting for her when she returned to the village. By the time she got back, most torches had been extinguished and darkness had cast over the village. Esther hadn't known how long the Spirits had kept her but she had been given the answer she was looking for.
"My love," Mikael held out his hand for her when she neared him. "Did the Spirit's answer you?"
She nodded her head and a small smile crossed her husband's lips. Mikael was never a smiling man but knowing that they now had the means to finally give their family the protection they needed lit up his eyes.
"What is needed for us to complete the spell?" He took his wife's hands in his and brought one up to his lips to place a gentle kiss to her knuckles, proud of her for finding the answer.
"Our children must consume innocent blood and die with it inside of them," she told Mikael. "I must bless the blood before they drink it and afterwards, when they awake, they will need to drink fresh human blood to complete the spell."
"When, my love?"
Esther inhaled deeply before she answered her husband. "Tonight." She no longer wanted to feel the fear of losing another child; she wanted this to happen as soon as possible. "I must also draw energy and power for the spell and I cannot wait for the full moon, we must do this now, Mikael."
Mikael's gaze drifted over Esther's head and towards the large White Oak tree that had been growing in the middle of the village since before he could even remember and it didn't take a fool to know that the tree had mystical qualities about it.
xxx
Esther and Mikael had gathered all the siblings together no more than an hour after Esther returned. Mikael had handed them all wine laced with the blessed blood that they were to consume. Esther told them they were drinking for Henrik, a final farewell of sorts, just for the family.
Klaus didn't miss the glare and the reluctance Mikael showed when he handed Klaus the wine.
After the small family gathering, the family once again separated. Rebekah was tired, Elijah and Finn wanted to finish their sparing session with Kol watching while Klaus went back to the cave where he left Bonnie when Rebekah came to summon him.
There was a strange expression on her face when he told her what his mother had wanted them to do but she said nothing, she only moved closer to him and took him in her arms, her head resting on his chest.
Once Niklaus had returned to his home, he was shocked to find Rebekah lying by the fire, her white dress stained with the deep crimson colour of her blood. He cried out and raced to his sister's side, pulling her up and holding her head to his chest crying out her name, willing her to return back to their family, to him.
"It had to be done, boy," came the unsympathetic tone of Mikael from behind him. "Your mother and I are doing this for all of you. She already has lost two children; she will not make it through another death."
Niklaus eyed his father with confusing and fear. He didn't understand what he was saying.
"Rebekah is dead," he cried out and clutched his sister's body tighter.
Mikael stalked closer to him and with a rough hand on his shoulder, ripped him away from his sister and pushing him to the ground. It was then when Niklaus noticed the sword in his father's hand. His eyes widened when he placed all the pieces together, the bloody sword in his father's hands and the body of his sister just a few feet away….
"You," he breathed out in shock. "You did this to her." His shock began to turn to anger as he looked up at the man who had murdered his sister.
"Unfortunately, it has to be done for you as well," Mikael grunted before he raised the sword. "Believe me, boy, I wish for nothing more than to leave you behind but your mother says otherwise."
Klaus had little time to react before he felt the sharp and incredibly painful sting of Mikael's sword pierce his heart.
XXX
Holy shit it's nearly been a year since I updated! I honestly didn't think it had been this long and at the risk of sounding like a broken record I am SO sorry for the long wait but like I've mention before, I have a lot of trouble with this fic plus bullshit happening in my life.
I thought this would be a good place to leave it and save all the drama for the next chapters since shiz has now gotten real. There may only be four or so more chapters of the past as I'm unsure what the timeline is between them turning and then fleeing after Klaus kills Esther and blames Mikael so four more past chapters is all I have planned and outlined so far.
Thank you so much for the feedback, I probably would have given up on this one by now without it but I am determined to finish it.
Next Chapter: The Mikaelson's awake as vampires and we'll see Rebekah in the present day plus more! All the Klonnie goodness I am saving for the next chapters with all his vampy goodness!
Any mistakes I apologise for and please review!
XXX