Hello, my lovely readers. OMG. It's so close to over. This is frightening. Now, I have to begin to work on the sequel/spin-off in earnest. Ha! And we are back to Klaus' POV in the beginning. Oh, and there is a surprise guest star at the end of the chapter. On with the show…
Chapter 33: Change of Plans
When he received the call from his brother he was shocked. Klaus was not used to having those he pursued ring him up and tell him where they were. On the other hand he usually did not pursue any one with this amount of passion without the desire to inflict harm upon them. It was not that he did not want to seek revenge. They had taken someone very precious to him and that did not sit well at all.
Now, he was striding across the lawn of his brother's home determined to keep his temper in check. As soon as he was sure that Caroline was unharmed he would be leaving. Of course, there would be punishments for his siblings for defying him once more. They could not believe that they could just run like that.
Stepping onto the front porch he rang the doorbell and began to listen to the noises within the house. By the sounds of it they were having a party. And here he was hoping that they would be fearing his impending presence. Maybe Elijah had not told them of his invitation. Smirking, Klaus was shocked when Elena Salvatore opened the door. "Klaus," Elena greeted him with a sincere lack of enthusiasm.
"Elena, is that any way to react to the presence of a friend?" Klaus remarked lightly as he sauntered into the house and then looked for his older brother. "Elijah," he called spinning around on one foot. "Come out, brother, I am not in the mood for games tonight."
"I'm not hiding, Niklaus," Elijah called as he walked down the stairs. "On the contrary I have been awaiting your presence."
Klaus narrowed his eyes as he felt the doppleganger behind him. "I'm sure you have been," he replied smoothly taking a step to the side and leaning against a wall. Although a dagger would not hurt him, he was not in the mood for the tricks of this little group. "Where are the others?"
"They're around," Elena told him, her arms crossed and her feet spread like she planned to pounce. Klaus chuckled at the sight. He could tear her to pieces before she could blink.
"Where are Damon and Caroline?" Klaus snapped. He was telling the truth when he said he was not in the mood for games. All that had been on his mind since the night of the dance had been finding Caroline. He did not truly care about where Damon was but Caroline was another story. On the other hand Klaus was sure Elena had played a large part in their disappearance and he intended on punishing her. He would need the doppleganger for that.
"They're somewhere safe," Elena informed Klaus with a smirk and then she whirled around in shock as she heard something from the stairs. "No," she muttered unhappily as Damon walked down that stairs.
Elijah began to smooth his suit jacket but Klaus saw the look of shock that his brother was trying to conceal. Obviously someone within the group had decided to take it upon themselves to change the rules. This pleased Klaus as he awaited the arrival of his unexpected ally. Surely they would reveal themselves shortly.
"Nik," Kol called as he came bounding down the stairs and sped past Damon to embrace his older brother.
"Was this your doing, Kol?" Elijah called as he looked at Damon who looked like he hadn't fed lately.
Kol rolled his eyes. "No, I wasn't that bored yet. I will not take the credit when it is not my due. However, I know who your culprit is."
"Oh, do tell, brother," Klaus wrapped an arm around Kol's shoulders and gave him his most charming of smiles.
Kol shook his head. "No, I do not think I shall tell you," he replied, shrugging Klaus' arm off. "I shall not tell you. It is not my secret. I have other business to attend to."
Klaus growled but stayed where he was as Damon came to stand beside Elena. Out of the corner of his eye Klaus saw Jeremy and Stefan come around a corner. In the blink of an eye he snatched Jeremy by the shirt collar and returned to his earlier position. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, you were telling me where Caroline was before I begin to make young Jeremy wish he had never been born."
"No," Damon cried staring at his brother in fear. Elena grabbed him by the arm restraining him from making contact.
"Tell me where Caroline is or I kill him," Klaus snapped feeling his patience dwindle to zero.
"She's safe, Nik," Rebekah announced as she walked down the stairs like they were talking about the weather. "I compelled her to forget you like you compelled Stefan to forget me all those years ago. Call it poetic justice."
Klaus snarled and grabbed Jeremy by the hair. He was about to bite him when Rebekah held up a hand. "She's in the attic," she whispered.
Klaus was zooming up the stairs before anyone could say another word. The moment he saw Caroline he felt pain like he had never experienced before. She had cut her hair and looked paler than usual. "Caroline," he called about to rush toward her when her eyes widened.
"NO, Klaus. Don't. You can't come in. It's a trap. They want you to come in here with me. If you do you'll never get out again." Caroline called holding up her hands to ward him off.
Not quite trusting what Caroline was saying he placed a tentative hand to the barrier. Sighing in frustration he stared back at Caroline. "I will find a way for you to get out of here, love. You cannot spend your days rotting inside this room."
"She doesn't have to be alone," Elena called as she came to stand beside Klaus. "You can go in with her."
"You would enjoy that wouldn't you," Klaus sneered at the Salvatore sister.
Elena shrugged. "I'm not really getting a kick out of any of this anymore Klaus. I met a guy who I fell for who turned out to be the wrong guy. Or maybe he was in the wrong body. I don't know. Nothing makes sense around here anymore. But what I do know is that I'm not alone anymore. I have Damon."
Damon appeared beside Elena and took her hand. "You can kill us if you want. But it won't make the loneliness go away," he stated and Klaus smirked at him and was about to reply when Damon continued. "If you keep pushing even your family will leave you for good and you will be utterly alone."
Klaus glared at the doppleganger and was about to speak when he heard the door close. "What was that?" He questioned the two.
"That was your family leaving," Elena announced. "We're here. Bonnie cast a spell on the house so that none of us can leave. So, like I said go ahead and kill us but for a good long time we're the only company you have."
Opening his mouth to make a comment Klaus' eyes narrowed as Caroline stepped outside of the attic. "Rebekah just wanted long enough to leave. She has a right to a life. I think you've taken enough of it away from her. So, you wanted me all to yourself. Now, you have me. And them." Caroline nodded at her friends and headed toward the stairs. "I suggest you figure out what you want because you're going to have nothing but time to think."
"When did you become so wise?" Damon asked Caroline as she walked down the stairs and the lifelong friends took the lead.
"Oh, I've had a little time on my hands to think about a lot of things. Rebekah's compulsion made me do a lot of soul searching," Caroline told Damon.
"What did you come up with?" Elena questioned the baby vampire who looked bemused.
"That you can never plan out life. That life just happens. I thought that I was going to marry Damon and we would have little babies and live in Mystic Falls forever but then I realized that I didn't want to be there forever. It was the weirdest sensation. Although I didn't remember Klaus I knew he was out there waiting for me." Caroline began to smile as she talked and Klaus felt his lips moving upward against his will.
"It's funny that if you had told me that my soul mate was this guy who did really horribly things to people I would have said like hell no. That's just impossible. But life doesn't really let you plan for your future. It just happens. Like you and Damon. Who saw that coming? But looking at you two it's like it was always there." Caroline rambled on and Klaus was hanging onto her every word while Elena had begun to daydream about her car and Damon was thinking about a sandwich.
"That was inspirational, Caroline," Klaus began as he looked down at her. "But one thing is bothering me."
"Oh?" Caroline was all innocence.
"Why exactly did you not think about whether we would be stuck here forever?" Klaus questioned Caroline fearing that she was still under his sister's compulsion and that they were in a trap.
"Ummm… I don't know," Caroline replied. "Your Mom didn't really get super detailed about why she wanted us to stay here."
"His mother?" Elena now looked confused.
"My mother?" Klaus muttered his face becoming pale.
"Yeah, she appeared in the attic with me after you left," Caroline nodded toward Damon as she spoke and then turned her gaze to Klaus. "She said she would be back and something about looking forward to seeing you again but there were things that she must take care of. You know she's very vague, that one."
Klaus sank to the floor and stared at the wall dully. "She's going to kill me, Caroline."
"Why would she do that, Klaus, she's your mom. Whatever you did to her tell her you're sorry. I mean if you daggered her like you did to your siblings she has a right to be pissed but she seemed to be looking forward to seeing you. So, I don't think you should be worried."
Shaking his head Klaus placed his hands on either side of his head. "You don't understand," he muttered.
"Then tell us," Elena snapped. She was getting sick of Klaus' melodramatics. This was not drama class.
"I killed my mother," Klaus whispered.
"Oh, that's not good," Damon murmured, looking dismayed.
"No, it is not," Klaus replied drily. "That is not the worst part by far."
"So, what's the part?" Elena asked not liking the sound of where this was going.
"She is the most powerful witch in all of history," Klaus finished his train of thought and then returned to his inward processing of their predicament.
"So, she kills you and we leave," Elena replied brightly and then she looked at Caroline, who looked devastated. "Okay. Maybe not the best outcome."
"We'll find a way out of here before she comes back," Caroline told them and began to look around the house.
"It is no use, Caroline, the house is magically sealed. I was unable to break the curse. Esther will kill me and that is simply that," Klaus sat back resigned to his fate.
"NO!" Caroline protested kneeling down and staring him in the eye. "No. This is not how our story ends. Okay, Klaus. We're still going to try to make kids, right? How can we if you're dead?"
"I said that to make you happy. We cannot produce, love. We are vampires." Klaus told her.
"But you're not supposed to be this vampire werewolf thing either. But you are even if you didn't get to trigger that dormant part of yourself. You are proof that nature can create almost anything." Caroline whispered. "Now, get off your ass and help me find a way out of here."
"Don't you want to know why he killed his mother?" Elena questioned Caroline who looked at Klaus.
Klaus stared at his feet. "I was in a rage after she placed the curse on me to prevent me from being a hybrid."
"Oh," Caroline whispered. "Well, it's not okay what you did but that doesn't mean you're beyond forgiveness."
Smiling up at Caroline, Klaus got to his feet. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
"Well, it's not really what you did as much as what you can do," Caroline told him. "I have faith that you can be better if you try."
"Gag me," Elena snapped at them as she shook her head and Damon laughed at her. "What?" Elena stared daggers at Damon.
"It's just that the things that Caroline was saying about Klaus apply to you, too, Lena," Damon told Elena who began to fume. "Come on, Lena, you have to admit that you've done some pretty bad things in your lifetime."
"Yeah, I did and I don't regret any of them," Elena replied stubbornly.
"Really?" Caroline raised an eyebrow.
"Really," Elena snorted as she spoke and then she walked toward the door. "I'm going to find a way out of here just so I don't have to deal with your little therapy session with a bunch of crackpots."
Rolling his eyes Damon followed Elena to the door. "I don't know why you're taking offense."
"Because you just compared me to the vampire who is going to kill us," Elena snapped opening the door and trying to force her foot out without any results. "Damn it. They really did seal us in here. What the hell were they thinking?"
"I think that there's a reason that I was sent to the other universe." Damon told her trying to gain her attention as she continually tried to shove her foot out the resistant space.
"Oh?" Elena looked up at Damon her lips pursed. "Why?"
"Because otherwise I might not have ever seen this other side of you. The version that you thought went away when you died. The human version." Damon told her and then cupped her face. "I love you, Elena Salvatore."
Elena smirked. "I suppose I love you, too, Damon Gilbert."
"And so I think it is time to gather everyone together," an unfamiliar voice called from the living room.
Damon and Elena sped in that direction to find a tall woman in a long dress addressing Klaus and Caroline. Klaus looked unhappy so Elena decided that this must be Mommy Mikaelson. "Elena. Damon," the woman called to them and waved for them to walk into the room. "I'm happy that you're here. That means that we can begin soon."
"Begin what, Mother?" Klaus questioned Esther who smiled.
"The ritual. Don't worry, Niklaus, I am not here to kill you." Klaus' eyes widened in shock before she finished her statement. "I am here to correct a mistake I made a long time ago."
Damon and Elena traded looks with Klaus and Caroline. They were not sure that they liked the sound of what the witch had just told them. Esther simply smiled at them and then began to chant.
Tune in next week to see what Esther is up to and how that will change all of the characters' lives, perhaps forever.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and for reviewing: Jeremy Shane, Ghostwriter, redbudrose and Mystic Girl200.
Peace,
LL