AN: First off, I am very sorry it's taken me so long to update! College life can be a little crazy at times. I've had this chapter written for a long time, but I have no idea how to pick this story back up again after not even looking at it in so long. I was a little afraid to update. I can't really explain it. Anyway, to save time, I won't address the reviews individually, but I will send out a huge thank-you to everyone who reviewed. It's you guys that eventually force me to update. I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Reference previous disclaimers.
Previously . . .
Niklaus was trying to come up with another threat to throw at his sister when he sensed a presence behind him. He spun around and took a step back.
The woman standing behind him was taller than he. Her slender body was clothed in dark-denim shorts and a purple tank top. Her coffee-brown skin was deliciously soft and Niklaus found himself admiring her curves. Her dark hair was pulled up into a long ponytail, her dark, penetrating eyes staring at him.
She pursed her plump lips and suddenly blew a kiss at him. Niklaus's eyes widened when he felt a tugging in his gut, and he suddenly found himself back in his sister's bedroom. He leapt up in a panic and sprinted for the bathroom door, but it was locked.
"Rebekah!" He pounded on the door and yanked on it with all of his considerable strength.
It did not budge. "Rebekah!" Either his sister was ignoring him or she couldn't hear him over the shower. Considering her hypersensitive hearing, he was betting the former.
This could not be good. Where was a sledgehammer when he needed one? He dashed from the room to locate one of his brothers. Whoever that woman had been, he did not trust her alone in a room with his baby sister!
No matter how hot she was!
TVDTVDTVDTVDTVD
Pandora breathed a sigh of relief once he was gone, closing her eyes and focusing on changing her attire. She had hoped that her appearance would distract the hybrid long enough to allow her to dispose of him.
She needed to speak with the girl alone.
She was now dressed in a simple white shift that hugged her frame, much more comfortable than the shorts and tank top.
The shower suddenly shut off and Pandora heard a sigh from inside it. "Okay, fine, Nik," came the vampire's voice. "I'll talk to you now, if you promise not to be an ass." A pause. "Can you get me a towel, please? I, uh, forgot to grab one."
Pandora swiftly turned on her heel and quickly located the built-in linen closet. Rebekah must have heard her footsteps. "Nik?" she asked hesitantly. "Is that you?" The shower door jiggled for a moment before stopping. "Who's out there?"
She must have sensed that Pandora's footsteps were lighter than the hybrid's. Pandora opened the linen closet and took out two towels, trotting back toward the shower. She opened the door and passed them to the girl inside, who cautiously took them.
"I don't know who you are," the girl called, "but this is seriously twisted." She paused. "E.J.?"
Pandora did not answer.
After a few minutes, the door opened once more and the vampire snatched her clothing pile up from the floor. It closed again with a snap and Pandora settled back to wait.
When Rebekah finally did step out, her hair was wrapped up with one of the towels, the soft blue one, and her clothing looked damp in places. Changing in a recently used shower was a bad idea, but clearly the girl was not going to step out knowing that somebody was in the bathroom with her.
Rebekah frowned when she saw Pandora, looking her up and down. "Who are you?" she snapped, her tone dangerous.
Pandora smiled. "My name is Pandora," she introduced herself smoothly. "And I believe you have already met my son?"
Rebekah stared at her, blinking slowly. "Huh?" she huffed after a moment.
Pandora took a step forward and took one of Rebekah's hands in hers. "There are things you still need to know," she said softly. "I am going to take you to one who can tell you."
Rebekah glared. "Look, lady. I don't know who you are but—Holy *&#%!"
Pandora had only fazed a Living person to the Other Side one other time, and that had been her last time. She had sworn to never do it again, but this was a special case. She could have told the girl herself, but she felt somebody Rebekah knew and had once loved should do the honors.
Rebekah looked around the Other Side in fright. "What the *(^% is going on?!" she demanded. "Where the hell am I?!"
"You're on the Other Side, Rebekah." Rebekah spun around and her eyes widened.
Gloria smiled at her. "I have some things to tell you, darling," the witch said sadly. "Perhaps I can finally find peace if I do."
Rebekah was definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Whatever Rebekah had pictured the Other Side to be, it was not this. The world around her blurred, colors melding together and shapes becoming indefinable. She stood in her bathroom, but when she reached out her hand to set it on the vanity's counter, it passed through.
Rebekah sucked in a breath and held back a scream. This could not be happening. This could not be happening! THIS COULD NOT BE HAPPENING! She was reaching panic mode when she reached her hand out once more and it met a solid surface.
She blinked her eyes open and stared at her hand, which was splayed against cold, damp stone. She slowly turned to find that the wall sloped down before curving smoothly into an ovular shape. Lit torches were mounted around the small cave, casting a warm amber glow around. A rug that looked to be woven from heather and long grass covered the floor and a pile of straw and enormous banana leaves in the corner appeared to be a bed.
Rebekah continued to explore the small cave and located shelves carved directly into the cave wall that were stocked with dried out fruit, vegetables, and stacks of salted meat.
"What do you think?" Rebekah spun around at the voice, gasping in fright, her hand over her heart.
Pandora stood behind her, gazing at her with alluring dark eyes that drew Rebekah in. Her aura was hard for Rebekah to place. It was not comforting and pure as the strange boy's had been. Hers was alluring and exotic, mysterious. She made Rebekah wonder and question things she had never bothered to question before.
"Where is Gloria?" she asked suddenly. When she had first entered, the witch had greeted her. And then . . . . It was hazy. She couldn't seem to remember, and she certainly did not remember coming to this cave. Where had she been before this?
Pandora merely smiled at her, her white shift glowing orange in the torchlight. "The Other Side can have that effect on us," she murmured, her voice low and melodic. "We lose track of time and reality. Already you are feeling its effects."
Rebekah blinked and groaned, turning away from the strange woman. Her head was beginning to hurt, and she realized that she still had her hair wrapped in a towel. Her red tank top was spotted with wet marks and her dark yoga pants were chaffing against her legs they were so damp. Changing inside the shower after using it had not been her brightest idea, but what could she have done with a stranger in her bathroom?
Her bare feet rubbed against the cold stone floor. Rebekah shivered and leapt neatly onto the rug, contact confirming her earlier assessment of its makeup.
"Where am I?" Rebekah demanded, rounding on the woman. She glared hatefully as she reached up to yank her towel from her head, rubbing her hair as she pulled it off.
Pandora watched her with interest, taking a seat in a large chair that looked as if it had been carved right where it stood. Wait, where had that come from? Rebekah had not seen that chair before.
Rebekah huffed and turned away, combing her fingers through her hair to try to untangle the knots. She tossed her towel aside and began worrying her hair with her hands. She could feel Pandora's gaze on her back.
"Staring is rude!" Rebekah snapped as she spun around.
She was now standing in an open field, the edge of a forest visible afar off. Jagged mountain peaks rose ahead of her, far enough away to be mere shadows. The grass had been neatly trimmed, and Rebekah could spot flowers popping up in random places.
Pandora was seated cross-legged in the grass, twirling a dandelion in her hands. Smiling up at Rebekah, she nodded at her to speak. She had changed into long, dark-blue leggings; a form-fitting, midnight-blue tunic that fell to her thighs; and dark moccasins. Her long dark hair hung over one shoulder in a thick braid, with colorful beading woven into it.
The change of scenery and Pandora's change of clothing from a nightgown to Indian-style beadwork had Rebekah's head reeling. The Other Side really could give one a headache.
"I used to come here when I was a little girl," Pandora said dreamily, gaze far off somewhere. "My village used to be here, nestled in this little valley. I was happy. But I was young." Her expression darkened and she frowned, pulling her lips into a pout and furrowing her eyebrows. "I was naïve." She lifted her gaze up to Rebekah. "Are you naïve?"
Rebekah was uncertain whether or not she should be offended. "I'm not naïve enough to sit and listen to your life story, if that's what you mean."
Pandora laughed shortly, smiling sadly to herself as she gazed down at the shredded dandelion in her hands. "It is not true what they say," she said softly. Rebekah wasn't sure if she was being spoken to or not, so she just listened. "Beauty does not equal happiness."
"You're freaking gorgeous!" Rebekah snapped irritably. "You must have guys falling over you all the time. How could you not be happy?"
Pandora did not rise to meet the challenge, but her face changed. It morphed into sad and old. Very, very old. Those eyes had seen many things. This woman who looked so young had eyes that looked older than Rebekah could even fathom.
"Do you believe being beautiful makes you happy?" Pandora asked in a low, dangerous voice. Her dark eyes flashed as they lifted up to glare at Rebekah, who took an unconscious step back. "I was the most beautiful girl in my village. And then I became an outcast, a reject. All because of my beauty."
Rebekah blinked at her. "I do not follow you."
Pandora suddenly stood and turned away from Rebekah, folding her arms and focusing her gaze on the distant mountains. "There was a boy in my village who found my beauty so enticing that he could not resist."
Rebekah immediately understood. "He forced himself on you."
Pandora's lips tightened and she held her head high. "No," she practically growled. "I was willing. And it ruined my life." She was suddenly towering over Rebekah, dark eyes flashing down on her. "I lost everything. My family had to disown me to protect themselves. The boy I thought loved me turned his back on me. I was an outsider among my own people. The people who had watched me grow up turned me out because of one mistake."
"How could they have possibly known what you did?" Rebekah rolled her eyes. This woman was being a bit melodramatic.
Pandora said nothing, hard eyes never once leaving Rebekah's. The Original glared up at her imposing figure, trying to make herself look tougher. After a time, she began to visibly deflate and she stepped away from the woman.
And then it clicked. "You had a baby."
Pandora's eyes immediately dropped and she looked now to be on the verge of breaking. "And now I do not even have him," she breathed.
She turned away and disappeared without a trace, the world dissolving around Rebekah. The girl screamed and fell down, throwing up her arm in a futile attempt to protect herself.
"Rebekah, what is wrong?" Slowly, Rebekah raised herself up and blinked up at the speaker. She was back in her home, her bedroom to be exact, and Gloria was gazing down at her worriedly.
"Who the hell was that woman?" Rebekah snarled as she climbed awkwardly to her feet.
Gloria's sad smile immediately fell. "You were with Pandora." It was not a question.
Rebekah slowly nodded. "Who is she?" she stubbornly repeated her question.
Gloria bit her lip and slowly shook her head. "Not now, not here," she said. "Another time, Rebekah. Now we must talk about E.J."
Rebekah frowned. "I'm listening."
Gloria sighed and motioned at her friend to follow her as she turned and began walking away. With no other option, Rebekah followed her, albeit reluctantly. They seemed to walk on for some time through what appeared to be a swirling gray cloud that had no end or beginning. It was disconcerting, and Rebekah found herself longing for familiarity. Everything looked the same.
Before she knew what was happening, Gloria had led her through the endless gray fog and into a small, cozy sitting room. Candlelight lit up the room, casting shadows along the walls filled with bookcases. Gloria did not seem surprised by the sudden change, making Rebekah assume that such abrupt travel was normal on the Other Side.
"That was the Tunnel we traveled through," Gloria answered Rebekah's unspoken question. "It exists between the dwelling places of the ghosts here and allows for easy access, and whatnot."
Rebekah could only stare. She had been under the impression that the Other Side was a place where one was wandering the physical world all alone. This place was many things, but that was not one of them. "I do not understand," Rebekah spoke up.
Gloria misinterpreted her question. "I do not see what is so confusing. Think of it as a hallway between the many rooms in a building." At Rebekah's bored glare, Gloria realized that that was not what Rebekah had meant. "Um, I'm sorry. What don't you understand?" The witch sounded genuinely confused, making Rebekah sigh in annoyance.
"This place," Rebekah grumbled. "It's not like what I thought it would be. Is this what I have to look forward to when I die?"
Gloria smiled fondly at her friend, understanding where the vampire was coming from (and choosing not to comment on Rebekah dying, which the witch had always believed to be impossible). "It can all be a little much to take in at first," she began. "The Other Side is not a simple place, Rebekah. It has many what could be called 'layers,' and we ghosts simultaneously exist in these layers. One layer is the border of our plane and the Physical Plane. That is the experience of utter loneliness. Most young spirits never stray far from the border since they always have regrets of their lives and want to keep an eye on loved ones. As time goes on, they begin to further explore the realm and discover the other layers."
Rebekah scrunched up her nose. "What 'layer' are we in, then?"
"I can't give you a number, hon!" Gloria laughed. "It doesn't exactly work like that. I can tell you that you are in the deepest part of the Other Side where mind truly is over matter. This is my dwelling place, and I can change it at my very whim."
Some things began to make sense for Rebekah. "Is that what the crazy lady was doing?"
"Pandora?" Rebekah nodded. "It doesn't work that way, love. Every new time you enter, your dwelling place models itself after your thoughts, but you can't change it whilst you're in it. You shouldn't have been able to witness a change."
Rebekah frowned. "Could Pandora have transported me, then?" Now she was confused. She wanted to know what had just happened to her, and she wanted to know it now!
Gloria had to think for a moment before answering. "Pandora can go places in the Other Side that I cannot even touch, Rebekah. It sounds more as if she pulled you into a memory. She's extremely powerful, Bekah. You don't want to mess with her."
Rebekah groaned loudly and plopped into the matching maroon armchair, separated from Gloria's by only a small coffee table. "Who the heck is this woman anyway, Gloria? She gives me the heebie jeebies."
Gloria had to hide her smile at the childish phrase coming from the Original's lips. Rebekah would not appreciate being laughed at. "I don't honestly know, Rebekah," Gloria answered honestly. "She has the ability to be in both the Physical Plane and this plane. She can go places here and do things that I can't even comprehend. And her power does not stop here. She has influence in the Physical Plane as well, which is something I have never seen."
"You are a young spirit, Gloria," Rebekah suddenly observed. "How are you already so deep into the Other Side?"
Gloria scowled. "Pandora came to me as I was wandering alone near the border, sulking, and dragged me to these deep parts. I could do nothing but submit. And now I've found it's much more enjoyable here than there. Ghosts can interact on this level of the Plane, which can help curb the loneliness."
After a beat of silence, Gloria sighed and reached up a hand to run it through her short, tightly curled hair. "It appears that you are avoiding the matter at hand, my dear." Although the witch was an infant compared to the Original, Gloria had always felt a maternal fondness for Rebekah that could only be explained by the physical age difference. Rebekah might be nearly eleven hundred years old, but, in many ways, she was still a child. Rebekah allowed the familiarity between her and the witch to only go so far, though.
Rebekah scowled. "Then start talking," she growled. Gloria appeared miffed, but wisely kept her thoughts on being growled at by a girl she considered to be a child to herself.
"I suppose you have a lot of questions for me, Rebekah," Gloria finally said with a sigh. "I don't even know where to begin with E.J. There are so many things about your daughter that you do not know, Rebekah. I don't even know everything."
Rebekah frowned and slouched in her chair. "Okay, here's an idea," Rebekah said, annoyed. "How could I possibly have given birth to a daughter without knowing?"
Gloria sighed. "I already explained to E.J., and I heard her give you an abbreviated version."
Rebekah glared, her blue-green eyes narrowing dangerously and her lips curling back into a snarl, though no sound left her lips. The two simply stared at each other for a moment. Finally, Rebekah began in a low voice, "E.J. also said that I had—I mean, that I was 'with' her father, and I got a little distracted at that point. I can't really remember what she said, and I'm not so certain it would matter if I did."
It had been easy for Gloria to tell a half-truth to E.J. without the girl's noticing. E.J. was too trusting for her own good sometimes and tended to take people at face value, especially people she trusted. If E.J. had been paying more attention, she might have noticed the telltale signs that her godmother was not being entirely truthful with her. But the girl was at best unobservant and at worst downright oblivious.
But the Original was different. If Gloria even attempted a half-truth, Rebekah would sense it immediately, and Gloria knew that the vampire's trust in her was on thin ice as it was. If she was too vague, Rebekah would simply demand further explanation.
"I told E.J. that I magically removed her from you after she was conceived and then kept her frozen in a fridge for several years while searching for you. I only placed her within a surrogate because I was uncertain of how long she could survive frozen."
Rebekah gave the witch a hard look. "Why do I feel like you left something out?"
Gloria bit her lip. "I might have," she muttered vaguely. Bringing herself to reveal deeply hidden secrets was not Gloria's strong point. As much as she knew she needed to tell Rebekah—indeed, that Rebekah deserved to know—she felt as if she were tugging on an unyielding door and failing to open it.
"Gloria?" Rebekah asked after a moment, sardonic tone explicit. Rebekah had never been one for suppressing her opinions to spare others' feelings.
Finally, Gloria managed to yank the metaphorical door open a crack. "E.J. was not magically removed." As Rebekah stared at her, eyes wide and blinking slowly, Gloria managed to open the door a little bit further. "Not entirely, anyway. Accessing her was done physically, but she was removed and stored away magically, respectively." Rebekah still only stared. "And, um, I was not the one to do it."
Whatever Rebekah interpreted that to mean, she must not have been bothered by the fact that Gloria was not the perpetrator of the crime. "Tell me, Gloria," Rebekah snarled softly. "Why did you feel the need to remove E.J. in the first place?"
And there was the question that the witch had been dreading. At first, she felt her hold slipping on the door, but she finally put forth a monumental effort and threw it all the way open. Rebekah deserved an explanation. "Because I thought that you could not carry her, Rebekah," she answered softly.
Rebekah's hardened eyes softened marginally, and her gaze shifted to her lap where her hands were interlaced together. She was quiet for so long that Gloria began to fear that the Original was retreating into herself. "Why?" the girl finally asked, voice small and unimposing.
Gloria did not comment on the change of tone. "Because somebody convinced me that you could not." Even to her own ears, the words sounded hollow. She still did not know whether or not the words at that time had been true. Could Rebekah have carried and successfully delivered her daughter? Gloria would never know now, would she?
Rebekah's gaze lifted back up to Gloria and her listless expression morphed into outraged. Gloria had been expecting it, but it was still hard to see. "Do you still believe that?"
Gloria had been expecting Rebekah to demand to know the identity of whoever had told her such a thing. To say the least, she was surprised, and she had to take a minute to seriously consider the question. "Honestly, Rebekah?" she finally answered. "I don't know. Considering the circumstances, I'm inclined to say that the bastard lied to me, but I'm also a little hesitant to say no, because perhaps he didn't."
Now Rebekah looked lost. "Do you know who told you that?" Her tone informed Gloria that she was genuinely asking and not demanding. Gloria smiled a sad little smile at hearing the confusion in the girl's voice.
"I believe you have already met him," she said in answer.
Instead of understanding dawning in the Original's eyes as Gloria had expected, the girl only looked confused. "Huh?" Before Gloria could try to clarify, "You mean Nik?!" Gloria's eyes widened in surprise, but Rebekah seemed to have answered her own question in her mind and interrupted her. "That son of a bitch! Is that why he daggered me?! Because he didn't want me to know I had a daughter? He was probably pissed off that I slept with Stefan! When I get back, I am going to take one of those daggers and shove it up his—!"
"NO!" Gloria finally managed to interrupt. "Niklaus did not even know you had a daughter until today!"
Rebekah finally managed to come to her senses, realizing the ridiculousness of her accusation. As much of a jackass as her brother could be, she knew that not even he would stoop that low. She admitted begrudgingly to herself that her brother truly did love her and, no matter how angry he might be at her, would not wrong her so badly. If anything, when she thought about it, she realized that Niklaus would have been more likely to target Stefan if he'd known.
"Who then?" Rebekah demanded, desperate now. "Mikael?" Now that option made sense. She wouldn't put it below her father to do something of that kind in some twisted form of trying to protect her. That thought was ironic, since he had been hunting her and Niklaus (and earlier Elijah as well, although she wasn't certain about Finn or Kol) since their transition.
Gloria sighed and reached up a hand to run it down her face in frustration. Rebekah did not know many people, but the witch didn't know how long she could sit as the girl crossed names off her mental list. She was not thinking properly, clearly.
When she received no affirmative of her second assumption, Rebekah assumed that she was incorrect again. Actually, now she was ashamed of even suggesting that Gloria would work with her father in such a way. "Um, Elijah?" Now she was struggling. She could see no feasible reason that her brother would do such a dishonorable thing. It was completely out of character for him, but she was running out of options.
"I did not say you knew him well," Gloria finally muttered. She thought that it might be easier to throw the girl a few clues instead of coming right out and saying it. The name had gotten stuck in her throat twice already.
"Damon?" That made sense, if Rebekah thought about it. If the elder Salvatore had discovered that she and Stefan had a child together, then she would not put it past him to do such an abominable thing. Then again, he had never acted as if he knew that E.J. was his niece. Still . . .
"No," Gloria deadpanned.
Now Rebekah was stuck. Her mental list of people old enough to do it (who had been around at that time) was getting smaller. In fact, she could not come up with another name.
"In fact," Gloria suddenly spoke up, "you've only met him once, so I can't really say that you know him at all. I doubt you even know his name, since I would be surprised if he bothered to tell you. He's annoyingly mysterious that way."
As Rebekah stared at the witch, something suddenly clicked in her mind. It made no sense, but she could think of no other person the witch could possibly be referring to. "You mean . . . Djöfullin Veiðimaður?"
Gloria blinked twice. "Am I supposed to know what that means?"
Rebekah mentally checked herself. "The Devil Hunter?" she clarified.
Gloria's eyes narrowed. "Er, not helping much."
"The strange glowing boy that attacked me in E.J.'s room?"
"That would be him!" Gloria replied brightly.
"The Devil Hunter convinced you that I could not carry E.J. so you removed me and stuck her in a fridge?"
Gloria looked offended. "I'm assuming that by the 'Devil Hunter,' you are referring to the boy?" Rebekah nodded without her gaze breaking from Gloria's. "And I was not the one who removed E.J. He did. I'm not really sure how he knew about C-sections back then, but whatever. He magically sustained E.J. until I could cryogenically freeze her. Which, by the way, he also told me how to do."
"But why would he do that?" Rebekah asked, her voice a murmur.
Gloria shrugged. "Search me. Maybe he knew that E.J. would be the only person ever born a vampire, or something."
Rebekah's thoughts ground to a halt and she leapt up. "E.J. was born a vampire?!" She was shocked, to say the least. "How is that even possible?!"
Gloria only shrugged again. "She is the child of two vampires. It's really not that illogical if you think about it."
Rebekah dropped back down into her armchair. "Then why is she only fourteen?" she demanded. Nothing this witch was saying was making any sense!
"A vampire attacked her," Gloria replied. "E.J. doesn't really remember it, but that's the only thing I could think of to explain it. Maybe when he drank some of her blood it did something, I don't know."
Before Rebekah could ask any other questions, the world dissolved around her and she found herself yanked back through several layers of the Other Side until she landed in a heap on her porcelain tile bathroom floor.
"Ow," she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her head.
Gloria whirled around in shock and stood, glaring at the woman standing behind her.
Pandora was expressionless as she stepped forward and took hold of the young witch's shoulder. Gloria winced when her grip became strong enough to crack the bone.
"You have done well, child," Pandora purred.
"So you'll help me?" Gloria squeaked, eyes wide in fright. She still could not decide if she were more afraid of the boy who wanted to end her very existence or the strange woman who frightened her with her very presence.
Pandora smiled, but it was not what Gloria would call pleasant. She did not know whether to feel at ease or terrified as the woman sat her back down in her armchair, hand never leaving her now aching shoulder. "I will keep him from eradicating you, if that is what you mean."
"Yes," Gloria whimpered, sighing in relief when Pandora finally released her.
Pandora shifted to the front of the armchair and bent down before Gloria, leaning into her face. "I only have one more job for you before you will no longer serve any use to me."
Gloria gulped. "What is it?"
Pandora smiled once more and, this time, Gloria had no doubt of the emotion that the action instilled in her. "I will give you your instructions when the time comes," the woman answered in a low voice. "Until then, sit tight, child. Mshiagi cannot reach you here."
And then the woman was gone and Gloria promptly gave in to her overwhelming fear and broke down.
"I am so sorry, E.J.!" she sobbed under her breath as she curled into a tiny ball and tucked herself into the armchair. At one time she had thought nothing could frighten her enough to betray her goddaughter, but she had found something that did. And now she had become a pawn in a game that she did not understand.
And she hated it.
AN: Yes, I know, it's mostly a filler chapter. I apologize, but there were huge advances in the plot, I promise. I need motivation to pick this story up again, and I'm not sure where to get it. I do remember where I was going with this, but there are so many little things that I have to worry about dealing with, it can be a bit intimidating. I do hope that I will update sooner this time, but I can't make any promises. Please review and tell me what you think even though I know I totally don't deserve them! Hehe, sorry, drama queen moment there. Anyway, thanks a bunch for reading!