Jeremy clutched the stake in his hand harder, before moving around Connor in circles, when the other hunter smiled, he prepared for the fight.
Connor wasn't kind or easy on him, they had been training for weeks now and Jeremy was getting good at this.
So, it wasn't much of a surprise that he easily grabbed Connor's arm and tossed him over his shoulder, he used his knee on his throat to pin him down to the ground and rested the tip of the stake against Connor's heart.
Connor laughed. "You're a natural, kid."
Jeremy pulled back and offered his hand to Connor. "Get me a vampire, so that I can properly test your words."
"I'm as strong as a vampire." Connor took his hand. "And I'm the best you've got right now."
"Can't we go find a few vampires to slay? These aren't normal vampires. They are the first freaks of a freak-show line." He hissed.
Connor gave him a serious look. "You need to tame that rage, kid."
"They killed my sister and everyone that I knew in my town, and they still go on with their lives like nothing ever happened." Jeremy tossed the stake away mad.
"Rage only gets in the way of clarity." Connor picked up the weapon and tossed it back to Jeremy. "Let's do it again."
Reluctant, Jeremy nodded.
"You can't let feelings like rage and revenge get in the way." Connor was the one circling Jeremy now.
"That's all I can think about." Jeremy explained. "I want to Kill all of them."
"It won't be easy but trust me, they will pay for what they did to you."
A small smile showed on Jeremy's lips, but he hardly enjoyed it as Connor attacked him, this time he was the one feeling the sharp blade of a knife pressed against his neck.
"Never let your guard down." Connor pulled back the knife.
Jeremy nodded and while he was standing up, he noticed the strange tattoo that Connor had on his forearm, it was a small wolf howling at the moon.
When Caroline stepped back from the tree, she sighed in wonder, it looked exactly as she wanted, and she looked back at the other two girls for further approval.
Rebekah was holding a huge Snowman in her arms and looked about to sniffle while Bonnie gave the last touches to the red and green ornaments that were dangling from the staircase railing.
"I think we are all done." Bonnie said happy from the top of the stairs.
Caroline smiled elated. "Christmas has officially taken over the house."
"If we had snow we could go outside and make snow angels." Bonnie was getting into the spirit of it as well.
"Ummm... I'm sure that I can find a way to make snow." Caroline wondered what she could do about that.
"Can you work some of that Santa magic on Kol?" Rebekah held the big Snowman closer to her chest.
Caroline frowned. "Is he still being mean to you?"
Rebekah had a long deep breath. "Kol is being a superlative arse." She glanced at Bonnie.
The other raised her hands in the air. "I did my bit, and he still didn't budge."
"He's ruining Christmas for me. It's the first time we are all together without a dagger as an ornament and he's being horrible." Rebekah sulked.
"I just got back on track with him. Remember how mad he was, because I taught you a few fire tricks?" Bonnie shook her head. "I'm not going to change his mind about you, so I might just let you two work things out alone."
"He doesn't even look at me…"
"It's not the first time that you've been at odds with one of them." Caroline said, but because she saw how troubled Rebekah was, she smiled. "We can pop a bottle of wine and talk about it, if you want to…" She suggested.
Rebekah handed her the Snowman. "I'm going over to Damon's house instead. I need his silly jokes to get my mind off this. We have our first official Christmas as a family and my brother decided to ruin it for me." She huffed on her way to the door.
Caroline straightened the hat of the big decorative piece and decided to leave it closer to the tree.
"Why is he being like this with her?" She looked up at Bonnie.
"I know that I should be doing something more proactive, but Kol is hurt with Rebekah. She pushed him away when Klaus was in London, and he feels like he isn't that important to any of them. I can only do so much, Care… I love him and I try to be there for him, but I screwed up as well when I left, and now I don't want to start a fight with him over Rebekah."
Caroline nodded. "I'll try to talk to him…" She leaned against the rail with a smile for Bonnie. "Do you want to come down for a glass of wine?"
"I'd love to, but I have to put away all the stuff that I bought today." Bonnie rushed to her bedroom with a smile.
"Right…" Caroline mumbled.
None of her friends were interested but she was dying to drink a bit of wine and to sit down on the sofa to enjoy the new decoration, so even though she was alone, Caroline decided to open that bottle of wine anyway.
She went through the large collection that Klaus had, trying to choose the right one.
She knew that the ones on the left were the expensive ones and she picked up one with a smile. "The real good stuff..."
On the way to get a glass, a loud commotion by the front door caught her attention.
Caroline couldn't help the suspicion as the two brothers came inside of the house causing an uproar, she knew mischievousness when she saw it and her raised eyebrow was a sign that she was onto something.
The younger Mikaelson smirked at Klaus before going up the stairs and Klaus returned the complicity.
"Double the Mikaelsons with a K… double the trouble." She pointed the bottle in her hand at Klaus.
"Hello, love." He greeted Caroline with a kiss.
It was one of his I'm going to kiss you sweetly on the lips, so I can distract you with my romantic ways kiss and Caroline traced her lips with her tongue when he pulled away from her.
"Scotch." She guessed.
"Kol had most of the bottle." He lifted his arms innocently.
"What have you two been up to?" She asked Klaus knowingly.
He took the bottle from her hand. "What a fantastic choice, sweetheart, it was a great vintage." He tapped the label.
"Nothing good, I see…" She sighed.
Klaus returned from his short walk to the bar with two wide glasses and handed one of them to her, easily he opened the bottle and poured the beverage with a smile.
"You and Kol went to beat the crap out of Damon, didn't you?" She confronted him with a glare.
Klaus shrugged naturally. "We went to the town's pub, and he was having a bit of a car problem, he kept being slammed against it… which was quite strange, if you ask me."
"Bekah will be upset." Caroline knew it.
"I can deal with my sister's tantrums, however, dealing with the hassle that Damon constantly represents in my life, is becoming strenuous."
"I moved on from what he did to me, Nik… I'm happy now."
"Am I such a despicable brother for wanting my sister to be happy as well?"
Caroline clutched her wine glass, watching him as he left to sit on the sofa.
She followed him, taking her shoes off and snuggling on the sofa comfortably. "She is happy with him."
Klaus stirred the wine inside of his glass. "Every choice that my sister makes with her heart ends with someone trying to tear it out of her chest."
Caroline had her drink quietly now, she was in a peaceful mood, but she wasn't about to start defending Damon, so she decided to end the topic, in fact she wanted to change it entirely.
She reached out to caress his face.
It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. "Is there anything that you wish to ask me, sweetheart?"
Caroline sipped on the amazing wine with a smile. "We need to make a few Christmas lists."
Klaus reached for the bottle, refilling his glass while Caroline jumped from the sofa to grab some paper and a pen.
"And by lists, you mean…"
"Gifts, parties, guests and I could use a little help deciding on the Christmas Eve menu." She returned to the sofa excited. "This is going to be so much fun."
He could sense a squeal that was held back, and he almost wished that she hadn't restrained, it was endearing to see her so euphoric.
Kol walked down the hallway, taking his jacket off and wondering if Bonnie was awake because he needed to talk to her but while stepping into the room, he stopped his movements and his breathing.
Everything froze when he saw Bonnie sitting on the bed waiting for him.
Well, everything stopped except what obviously became very alive, upon seeing his girlfriend wearing a sexy black lace halter babydoll, it accentuated every trace of Bonnie's body that he adored, and she looked absolutely striking.
"Where have you been?" She asked him sweetly and in a low voice.
He struggled with his jacket, it was halfway down his arms, and he had no idea what to do with it. "I'm not sure if I can recall my night thus far. Suddenly, everything that took place is uninteresting."
Bonnie smiled with the way that the words struggled out of his mouth and seductively, she stood up and walked over to him.
He gulped down, noticing the tiny matching panties under the really short babydoll and he suddenly remembered how to remove his jacket.
Bonnie loved how he couldn't move his eyes away from her. "Do you like it? Caroline was buying all of this steamy red stuff and I know how much you like to see me in black…" She stopped inches away from him.
Kol fretfully laughed. "Like? I'm praying that there's a candle somewhere that we haven't used, because I'm about to set this entire house on fire."
Bonnie smiled, lightening up the candles on the nightstand with her mind. "That won't be a problem…"
She started kissing him, while stroking his neck and between kisses they moved towards the bed.
Her hand was still on his neck as she rested on the bed and the kisses were coming slow, passionate but slow, and Bonnie began to pull his shirt up.
Kol helped her pull it over his head before adoringly looking at her.
"God… you're beautiful." He wasn't the most eloquent man right now, but she always rendered him speechless.
Bonnie smiled in love. "There's something about you Kol that makes me feel like I was invisible, until the day you noticed me."
"It probably happened on the day I called you Harry Potter…" He remembered vividly the day she visited the house with Caroline.
It was the first time he actually looked at her and noticed how different she was from everyone else.
"You always had the nagging habit of calling me something unflattering…"
Kol lowered his eyes to the voluptuous bust that was thinly covered by a flowing fabric.
"I have no other justification, except that I was out of my mind." He licked his lips with his eyes on her soft skin.
Bonnie started caressing his back, as Kol lowered his head to kiss her cleavage and moved a hand along her leg, caressing her gently.
"Kol, I want to try blood-sharing…" She said softly and waited for him to look at her to see his expression.
He was entirely serious. "Are you saying that out of certainty, or because you think that's something that I would want?"
"Isn't it something that all vampires do?" Bonnie quietly asked. "I mean, you've been teasing me with it, but you haven't really bit me yet, and I've been wanting it more, with every time we make love."
He smiled, brushing her chin with the back of his hand. "I just want you to be comfortable and if that's something that you would like… blood-sharing is personal and intimate, and if it's used during sex, it means that someone is receptive to a certain kind of pain."
"When we first linked each other, and you had to bite me…" She traced his chest with her fingertips. "I didn't feel any pain at the time."
He cocked his eyebrow. "At the time, I wasn't ramming into you."
Bonnie crumbled into a soft laughter. "That makes it all more graphic for me."
He kissed her lips sweetly. "I'm all for pushing the boundaries of your pleasure, Bonnie. And I'm willing to try anything that you want."
Bonnie smiled at him with love.
"But you're a witch at heart and even being turned into a vampire hasn't taken that essence away from you, to enjoy blood sharing you would have to like the taste of blood more than you like magic." He explained.
Bonnie's response was a kiss, if she started speaking, she would give him a huge reply that would mention how much she loved him for not being selfish, he could easily be the only one biting and taking pleasure from that, but Kol's pleasure came from knowing how much she was enjoying sex with him and that made him endlessly perfect.
With a leg that entangled between his, Bonnie pressed his chest and with that showed him what she wanted, when Kol rolled over to rest on his back, she straightened up while straddling him.
He gulped down, the babydoll really favored her big curves and Bonnie's smile was as hot as she looked.
"There is something else that I want to try…" She caressed his chest but moved her hands down to his belt, she opened his pants noticing how his breath suddenly picked up.
She reached for something that she was keeping on a small bag and the flames rose dangerously high as she showed him the binding fabric that she bought.
"For you… or…" Kol couldn't sort out words from the steam in his mind.
She bit her lip playfully. "I want to hear you grunt my name."
One of the candles burnt down to a poodle of wax.
"Keep the babydoll." He only asked her.
Bonnie leaned over to kiss him, she was thorough and caring with the kiss, while she reached out for his wrists.
Caroline was stroking Klaus's hair, absent-mindedly while making her list of presents, all the lights in the living room flickered in danger of going out and she sighed.
"Candles, we need to get those two a lot of candles." She wrote it down next to their names.
Klaus chuckled, he was lying on the sofa with his head on her lap and he was busy sketching the Christmas tree in front of them.
She smiled and picked up her wine for another sip from it. "What should we get Elijah for Christmas?"
Klaus smiled. "A girl."
She rolled her eyes. "This is serious, Nik."
"He seriously needs a girl, Caroline." Klaus replied amused.
"Fine, we'll get him a girl… any suggestions of what she should be like?"
"Something on the lines of the Victorian era. He liked the women, the big cleavage and the language." He suggested, while giving the last touches to the tree.
Caroline rolled her eyes again. Klaus was of no help.
"Do you want to add the star to the drawing?" He asked, looking at her.
Caroline froze. "Are you sure?"
He handed her the pad. "I'm curious."
She dropped her pad and took his instead, she took her time before letting the pen touch the paper.
Klaus kept his smile tamed while he watched her. The concentrated expression, her perfect golden waves that she stubbornly tucked behind her ear, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she tried very hard to do the best that she could.
When she was done, she pushed the paper away from her so that she could see the result and smiled happily with the outcome. "Here's my star." She handed the pad back to him.
Klaus smiled terribly amused with the pointy figure planted on top of his perfect tree. "That's adorable."
"No one likes a smug artist, Klaus." She complained on point.
He tried to look serious. "It's a special star."
"Yes, it is. It's a... shooting star crossing the top of the Mikaelson Christmas tree." She defended her work.
"Sweetheart, you should've said that it was abstract."
She narrowed her eyes at him fiercely.
"What are you going to buy me for Christmas?" Katherine asked, while sitting next to Stefan.
He smiled with his eyes on his journal. "Your own house?"
"I was thinking more about a honeymoon to an exotic country, or an island where we won't need any clothes." She made little circles over his tight dark-blue shirt.
"You're suggesting that we skip the marriage and go straight to the honeymoon?"
"There has been enough drama between us to endure a wedding on top of it all, so let's skip to the fun part..." She said, nibbling on his ear.
"I'm not a fun guy, Katherine..." He tried to sound indifferent to her but let out a smile.
She smiled, taunting him with her eyes and her fingers that trailed his chest playfully. "Shakespeare knew how to have fun as well."
Stefan laughed and closed his journal. "He wrote tragic love stories."
"All the epic ones are tragic, Stefan." She started caressing his neck.
Stefan leaned over and kissed her.
It was a kiss that easily became intense but also one that was rudely interrupted by Rebekah.
"Do you know where Damon is?"
Katherine sighed, facing the other girl. "You're the one drinking his blood, not me."
Rebekah eyed her with a nagging urge to start a fight but with the sound of the door opening up, she looked there to see Damon arrive with a ruined shirt.
He also had a nasty cut over his eyebrow that was still healing, and he was too mad to stop and talk to the three vampires staring at him.
"Damon, who did this to you?" Rebekah followed him to the bedroom.
He ripped apart the rest of his bloodied shirt. "Not now, Rebekah."
"We're on a full name basis, which means that you're upset with me."
"Include your family in that upset basket." He snapped, while tossing the shirt aside.
"Kol paid you a visit, didn't he?"
"It was a Klaus and Kol assault, and I'm getting really tired of it, Rebekah."
"They get in the way of every relationship I ever had."
Rebekah tried to touch him, but Damon started walking to the bathroom and she didn't say anything else, afraid to cause a bigger rift between them.
Caroline was doodling a heart on paper. "How about Christmas day? I was thinking that we could host a small dinner party, just for the family but invite my mom and have a little music and champagne and exchange presents after dinner."
"Are we inviting the Salvatore brothers? Because if so, we need to hide all knives and sharp weapons on sight." Klaus advised, during his detailed drawing of the staircase behind the tree.
She ran her fingers through his hair slowly. "I really want this, Nik… We've earned our first Christmas together as husband and wife..." She smiled, while writing down her name followed by his strong surname.
She really loved how her name sounded with that Mikaelson at the end.
Klaus rested the pad against his chest. "I'll compel everyone to behave, if I have to."
"You can't compel your siblings." She mumbled.
He gave her a sweet smile. "They will do anything to see that happy smile of yours, sweetheart."
Caroline felt her cheeks heat up. "Go back to your stairs…"
Klaus happily returned to his artwork, her hand moved to his chest, and she started playing with one of his necklaces while moving on to the list of things that she would need to organize for the party.
She didn't take long, her experience in this was large and it was easy to list it all.
Caroline sneaked a look at Klaus making sure that he was busy before changing pages.
She looked at the blank page in front of her, thoughtful, while she spent her nights awake watching him, she had started thinking about something special that she could give him, and the idea had been dancing around in her mind.
With a smile, she started making the first draft, at first, they were only loose lines spread across the page without any connection between them, but she had faith in turning it all into something really special, which was a love letter for Klaus.
Liz gave the man a double look as he stepped inside of her office. "Rudy Hopkins… the man of the hour."
"You look as beautiful as I remembered, Liz." He said affectionately.
Liz laughed without meaning it. "I'm busy, so what do you want?"
"I can start with your support." He neared the desk. "As you know I'm running for mayor."
She didn't take her eyes from the files in front of her. "You don't need my support. You have very important people backing you up."
"This is a small town, and everyone looks up to the Sheriff." He sighed with a bit of a dramatic effect. "We both know that I won't be accepted without mistrust."
"That didn't stop you from taking the lead, in a one-man campaign." She faced him.
"I would reconsider your position, Liz. You don't want an enemy now. The town council is a joke, and I will dismember it as soon as I win the election."
She looked at him a bit surprised. "And your sudden wish to be mayor isn't a joke? You never cared for this town, so why are you doing this now?"
"I have a different interest now…"
"What did they use against you?" Liz stood up so that she could confront him for the truth. "Because I know that there's a group called The Luna, and that the man leading them wants to take over this town, and I really hope you're not joining them for something petty like money."
"There's a cure, Liz. A cure for vampires." He said in a low voice, afraid that unwanted ears would catch his words.
Liz narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you telling me the truth?"
The tall black man nodded seriously. "Ansel told me that there's a sword that can heal my daughter, and yours."
Liz sat down slowly.
The morning was well advanced, when Kol bounced his way down the staircase, he saw that Caroline was busy with flowers in the lobby and instantly headed that way.
"Good morning." He snatched a holly leaf from the lot.
"Good morning to you." She greeted him with a smile. "You look happy today."
Kol's smirk spoke of all the deeds that she had no desire to listen to.
"I see… well, since you are in such a good mood… maybe you could take the spirit of Christmas to heart and be nice to Rebekah."
He lost his smile. "I sense a Caroline speech approaching…"
She turned sweetly to him. "Stop being a dick and be a brother to Bekah." She took the leaf from his hand. "Speech over."
Kol was serious. "Care…" He pressed his lips in a sad way. "I have something to tell you…"
She stopped her flower decoration to look at him worried. "What is it?"
"I don't really know how to tell you this…" His expression was gloomy.
"You're scaring me, Kol…" She motioned her hand. "Just say it." She urged him.
Kol straightened himself up and nodded. "Care… I'm sorry to break the news but Santa isn't real."
She lessened her eyes and waved her finger in front of him. "That wasn't funny."
He laughed easily. "Someone had to tell you the gruesome reality of things."
She went back to her housewife duties. "You have to grow up."
"I don't want to."
She pouted. "He likes being the baby in the family…"
"What are you giving me for Christmas?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her.
Caroline laughed. "I know what you can give me... it starts with diamonds and ends in earrings."
There was aghast in his voice. "I'm not your husband, who goes overboard insane because of a gift."
"No… but I am your favorite sibling."
"Not really." He tried to sound resolute.
Caroline finished her work of flowery art, proudly. "I know that I am."
Kol tried to come off unaffected, but she caught his small smile.
Unexpectedly, there was someone knocking on the front door, and she looked there, stunned.
"Are you expecting someone?" She asked Kol.
He shook his head.
"Sweetheart, can you see who's at the door?" Klaus asked Caroline while calmly coming down the stairs.
"Are you too tired to go over to the door yourself?" She asked him, unimpressed by his attitude.
"I'm on my way to join you." He replied, busy with his phone.
"Don't get used to this." She huffed, upset that there was a second louder knock.
Klaus pretended to ignore her as she opened the door mad.
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Caroline gasped and covered her mouth.
There was a group of at least 30 people standing on her front porch, singing a Christmas carol and they were all dressed in red gowns.
The image was perfect and their voices as much, she felt Klaus behind her lacing his arms around her waist.
He kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "This is my small way of thanking you for what you've done for me, love."
She shook her head. "You and your big surprises, Nik."
"Merry Christmas, love." He smiled at her.
Caroline melted, loving every second of this, and she rested against his chest enjoying the music.
Kol stayed back in the lobby, he felt as if he would intrude on the private moment between Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson, and when he heard Rebekah coming down the stairs, he looked at her.
She didn't say a word, but he could tell how mad she was.
She instantly turned, headed for the kitchen.
"You're missing the Christmas Carols." He followed her naturally.
Rebekah looked at him astounded that he had the audacity of speaking to her, like nothing happened.
"How's Damon?" He asked her easily.
Rebekah held a mug with coffee undecided if she wanted to throw the mug at him or not, she quietly left the mug back on the table and left the coffee and Kol behind.
"Christmas means a lot to Caroline." Kol said, before she disappeared from the kitchen. "Perhaps, I could pretend to apologize to you and you could pretend to forgive me."
Rebekah came back to sight with a glare. "Are you really going to bluntly use Caroline to try and apologize to me, Kol?"
"I'm not looking for forgiveness here, darling. And you should be thankful that I haven't removed Damon's heart yet."
His reply left her shaking with rage.
He smiled at her, with a smirk so usual in him since he was a little boy.
"Has it ever crossed your mind that I felt the same way about Bonnie? That I wanted to end her fragile life when she left and tore you apart? I wanted to kill her, but I didn't act on it, because I know how important she is to you."
"She didn't try to kill us, like Matt or Damon did."
"Bonnie couldn't decide between you and Elijah at first, then she kept using you as her private energy source and you both kept it hidden from everyone that every time you had sex, she drained you to the point where if you had been just a random vampire you would be dead."
"I wasn't aware that you cared so much." He was upset that she was bringing this up.
"You're in a toxic relationship, as much as I am with Damon but at least I'm not a hypocrite about it. I know that Damon tried to kill us all, more than once, but at least I know who I'm with. While you have a black magic witch on your bed, who can easily kill you. And I'm still not convinced that she wouldn't try Elijah's bed, just to see if she would prefer him."
"Do you prefer Damon over Stefan?" Kol plunged the knife deep as well.
"If you touch Damon again, I will take it out on Bonnie." She glided the mug on the table nearing it to him. "I know that you don't see it that way, but I'm capable of anything to keep the ones I love safe, and if you think that your girlfriend is that special… then think again." She strutted away.
When Kol's eyes drifted to the mug, he found the coffee inside of it transformed into a burning flame.
Filiz checked for messages on her phone, she looked back at the pack entertained with small tasks such as keeping the campsite clean and functional, and quietly joined Dani near the fire.
"Hayley bailed on us, she came up with a silly excuse that she was needed in San Francisco, but I think that she just made a run for it."
"Klaus expected it already." Dani said with a smile.
Filiz' face lightened up as well. "How was it to be so close to him again?"
Dani's eyes sparkled in wonder. "It was everything we always talked about. He's powerful and strict, hot as well…"
"I don't remember much from when he turned my pack, he didn't stay long after we changed but I remember how compelled I was by his presence."
"He's amazing, every word that he says comes out with meaning and strength." Dani was still mesmerized by the brief encounter. "But ,so is his mate. Caroline is powerful and really beautiful… she is very possessive of him, which I understand completely."
Filiz sighed. "I can't wait to meet her."
Dani looked at another approaching hybrid.
"We need to prepare a spell." The girl said.
"A spell?" Dani was confused.
She gave Dani and Filiz a bag of salt each. "Klaus wants us to make a circle around camp."
Bonnie was focused on the spell, and it was a really easy one to perform, so it only took her a few minutes to get it done.
She was putting out the candle when Elijah came into the room with a smile.
"Niklaus wants to know for how long the binding circle will hold."
"For the next five hours." She smiled back at him. "Are you going with Klaus?"
"Yes."
Bonnie started cleaning the table from the stuff that she used for the spell, he was looking at her again like she was made of gold or something.
"Has Kol spoken to you about the new mayor?" He asked her with caution.
She tried to be cautious as well, so that she wouldn't hurt him without a purpose. "We didn't really have a lot of time to talk last night…"
Elijah nodded and turned away with a sad semblance, no matter how stoic he was about the situation, it still wounded him to know that she was spending her nights with Kol instead.