Chapter 15: Some Things Are Better Left Unknown

The travelers have fled. Caroline, Stefan, and Elena attacked them along with Kol and Klaus. They killed a few but most of them managed to escape. Finally Damon and Shanyra were rescued. When Kol and Caroline found Shae, she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall looking like a zombie. Markos had tried hard but he couldn't break the bond between her and Kol. It appeared that he needed Shanyra's consent to do so just as Gabriella needed her consent to create the bond. Technically the soul belonged to Shae since she was the last person possessing it. Therefore whatever happened to the soul while she's possessing it, must happen according to her wish, not forcefully. After Markos failed to break the bond with spells, he tried different methods but nothing worked. Shae refused to let the bond break. Unfortunately those methods left her traumatized and shocked.

"Shae!" Caroline exclaimed with worry as she and Kol quickly got to her. Stefan and Elena on the other hand untied Damon and helped him stand up. He too was quite exhausted from all the torture the travelers inflected upon him.

"What happened here?" Klaus asked Damon with anger in his voice.

"Markos tried to break the soul mate bond between Kol and Shae. And before you ask, I don't know why. He didn't succeed though." Damon said. He was parched for some warm blood.

"Why does Markos want to break the bond?" Caroline asked herself feeling confused. It didn't make any sense to her.

"Probably to kill me" said Kol as he gathered Shanyra in his arms.

"But he could kill you in other ways. Why abduct Shae?" Caroline had a feeling that there was an ulterior motive behind this action.

"We can find that out later. Let's get out of here first." Klaus said. Kol was already on his way out with Shae in his arms. He held onto her tightly and Shanyra as well clung to Kol as if her life was depending on him. While Markos tried to break the bond, Kol suffered along with Shae. He felt everything she went through. Therefore at that time, Kol was feeling pretty vulnerable himself; not to mention worried as hell. He couldn't imagine what it must've been like for Shanyra considering she was just a human. A fragile one at that.

"You guys should know that Markos was very interested in Shae's soul. I don't know why but I think he's going to try and break the bond again" informed Damon. He saw everything that Markos did to her. Damon didn't like witnessing the poor girl suffer but he couldn't do anything to help her either.

"How did Markos even learn about Shanyra in the first place? I thought he was too busy hunting down the doppelgangers." Caroline said more to herself than to others. Damon didn't say anything and remained quite. He was indeed feeling guilty but he hid it well. Still when Damon looked up, he saw Stefan looking at him a little suspiciously. He couldn't know it was him, could he? Damon wondered. Even if he did, Stefan didn't say anything. When everyone got back to Mystic Falls, the Mikaelson brothers parted from the Salvatore brothers. Elena obviously went along with Damon and Stefan. And Caroline chose to stay with her cousin.

"Damon." Stefan called his name when he was certain the originals were far away.

"You're not hiding anything from us, are you?"

"Nope." Damon said at once, making Stefan all the more certain that he was indeed hiding something. Elena was looking between the Salvatore brothers with confusion.

"Damon, I know you too well to know when you're lying to me." Stefan stated with confidence. Damon stopped in his way and sighed out exasperatedly. Clearly there was no point lying to Stefan. He'd eventually figure it out anyway.

"I told Markos about Shanyra." Damon confessed bluntly, trying to hide his guilt.

"What?!" Elena exclaimed with shock.

"Why would you do that?"

"Look, Markos asked me about Kol and how he is still here. I told him about the soul mate thing and suddenly Markos got interested in Shanyra. I had no idea, he was going to kidnap her and torture her." Damon defended himself right away.

"Kol can't find out about this." Stefan stated the obvious.

"He'd kill you."

"And Caroline would help" said Elena.

"I know. That's why I need you two to keep it a secret." Damon said hoping not to have Kol on his back because of this.

"I think we should also find out why Markos suddenly got interested in Shae. It must be something else rather than killing Kol" said Elena. Like Caroline, she too suspected another reason behind this sudden interest of Markos' in Shanyra and her soul.

"I'm sure the originals would turn over every stone to find out the truth. We don't need to worry about that" said Damon with a careless tone of voice.

"On the contrary, we do need to worry about it Damon. It's your fault that Markos learned about Shae. The least we could do is find out his real intentions with her." Stefan said quite determinedly. Elena remained quiet which meant she supported Stefan on this. Damon rolled his eyes at them for their righteousness.

"Fine, we'll look into it."

On the other hand, Kol was still holding Shanyra close to him. They've already arrived at the mansion. Shae has fallen asleep. Kol hoped that she'd be normal again when she wakes up. He tried not to think about Markos at that time knowing his blood would start boiling immediately. He needed to stay calm around Shae.

"Kol, you can let go of her now. She's safe here." Rebekah said with soft tone of voice.

"No." Her brother said at once. Rebekah and Caroline looked at each other.

"Kol, you need to feed." Caroline said which earned her a stern look from the original.

"I am fine." Kol said with strong tone of voice.

"Just leave me alone." Caroline was about to protest but Rebekah put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her from saying anything. They both walked out of the room without saying another word. Kol closed his eyes shut and inhaled a deep breath before opening them again. He looked down at Shanyra's pretty face. Suddenly he felt extremely angry, not only at the world but at himself as well. Where was he when the travelers got to Shae? Why couldn't he find her earlier and save her from all the torture? Kol caressed her face gently and kissed her forehead affectionately.

"I am sorry." The original said very emotionally as he held Shanyra more tightly.

"I'm sorry I failed to keep you safe." A drop of tear rolled down Kol's face and landed on Shanyra's cheek. Suddenly her brows furrowed a little and her eyelids fluttered. Shae slowly opened her eyes after a moment. For sometime she felt lost and had no idea what was happening or where she was. Kol on the other hand immediately got anxious seeing her wake. He cupped her face and made Shae look at him. However, her eyes remained unfocused.

"Shae, look at me." Kol said, getting worried about her. He waited for her to look at him and say something but she stayed silent. However, when Shae finally looked at Kol, she frowned in confusion at first as if she didn't know him. Then her eyes suddenly widened and she moved away from Kol as if she was scared of him. The action confused the original to no limits. Why was Shanyra scared of him above all people? Was she hallucinating? She was still probably in shock.

"Shanyra?" Kol said her name in a questioning manner this time and tried to get close to her but she moved away from him right away.

"Shae, it's me Kol. You are safe now. You are home." Kol tried to calm down the freaked out girl. He desperately tried to reach her but it seemed Shae didn't want to be anywhere near him. Her behavior worried Kol more than hurt him. He was convinced that Shae was in a shocked state or something like that. He didn't want to believe that she was actually scared of him. Why would she? It didn't make any sense at all. Thankfully Caroline came back in the room when she heard Kol talking to Shanyra.

"What's happening?" She asked Kol. Before the original could say anything, Shae ran to her cousin and hugged her tightly. She hid her face so that Kol wouldn't see her or she wouldn't see Kol. This confused both Kol and Caroline.

"Shae, what's wrong?" Caroline asked with concern.

"I don't want to be here." She said with low and shaking voice.

"Why? Shae talk to me. What happened?" Caroline questioned but Shanyra didn't answer her, instead she ran out of the room. Caroline and Kol followed her. Shae ran straight out of the mansion. Caroline used her vampire speed and caught up with her in a blink of an eye.

"Shae, stop. Tell me what's going on." She demanded answers this time. Shae looked at her cousin. There was stubbornness in her eyes this time.

"Take me away from here first." She said. Caroline looked at Kol who was standing not so far away from the cousins. He nodded to her.

"Fine. Let's go to my house." Caroline said. Soon they drove away from Mikaelson mansion. Kol on the other hand felt worried as hell. What exactly did Markos do to Shanyra? He needed to find out otherwise he might go insane. A few hours later in the Forbes residence, Shae was sitting on Caroline's bed. She was unaware that Kol was sitting on the porch of the house. He looked quite sad and helpless at the moment.

"You can come inside." Caroline said from the doorway.

"Thanks but I'm fine here." Kol said quietly. Caroline sighed out heavily but decided to leave him alone. She knew that the original was feeling hurt at the moment even though he said that he was only worried about Shanyra.

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything." Saying that Caroline turned away to get back inside.

"Caroline." Kol called her name. She looked back at him.

"Find out what's wrong with her. Please." He requested her. That was a first. Caroline nodded her head modestly.

"I'll try my best." Saying that she got back inside and went upstairs. When Caroline got to her bedroom she found her cousin sitting quietly. She walked up to her and sat on the bed facing her.

"I have an idea. How about we make this a girls' night. We could watch movies, play games or we could do each others' hairs and nails. It'd be fun, what do you say?" Caroline spoke excitedly to cheer up Shae but the girl remained quiet. She didn't even smile a little. Caroline sighed out a little in disappointment but she was far from giving up.

"You know what, forget all that. Let's talk about boys. I used to love talking about boys at your age." Caroline said but once again she met with silence.

"I guess you're too tired. We should just go to sleep." She said feeling a little awkward this time and worried as well.

"Caroline." Shae finally spoke up.

"Yes?" Her cousin responded eagerly. Shae looked at her in the eye.

"How many people have you killed?" She asked out of nowhere and without any hesitation. Caroline was taken aback to say the least. She got uncomfortable as well.

"What?" Caroline asked as if she didn't get the question. But Shanyra got her answer anyway. Her cousin did kill people.

"Did you enjoy killing them?" Shae asked again. Where was this coming from? She never asked questions like these before.

"Shae, why are you asking me this?" Caroline asked her in return. Shae stayed quiet for a moment then said-

"Because I need to know, what it really means- being a vampire."

"Till now I thought being vampire means being young forever, being strong and fast. But that's not all, is it?" Shae asked. She really needed some insight on this matter. Caroline though feeling confused about these inquires, decided to talk about her vampirism.

"You are right. Though being a vampire has its perks but there are some downsides as well. Blood lust is the worst of them. And yes, I've killed people but know that I hate myself for it. But I have my thirst under control now. I don't hurt anyone anymore. Actually I try to help people with my powers."

"But Kol is not like you, is he?" Shanyra said as she sighed out heavily.

"He showed me how Kol killed people throughout the centuries." Caroline was shocked to hear that.

"Markos showed me how much he enjoys shredding blood of innocent people. It's fun for him. There's no regret. No guilt at all."

"Markos showed you?" Caroline asked, she couldn't believe her own ears.

"Yes. When Markos tried to break the bond between me and Kol, he found that he needs my consent to do it. When I refused to give in, he showed me things to persuade me- about Kol." Shae explained to Caroline. A moment of silence passed between the cousins.

"I don't know what Markos showed you but Kol is an original vampire. You knew that he, well killed people in his life." Caroline spoke with hesitation. It was weird for her to defend Kol Mikaelson.

"That's the problem Caroline. I only knew about it. I never saw him taking anyone's life before. And there's a difference between knowing something and witnessing that. It wasn't just glimpses of the past that Markos showed me. It was like I was right there in that moment. I watched Kol feeding off people and ripping their heads off. I watched him kill simply because he was bored. It was like watching a completely different person with similar face."

"I'm scared of him now Caroline."

"Shae-" Caroline was going to say whatever Markos showed her were lies but she stopped herself. She didn't want to lie to her cousin. It wouldn't have been the right thing to do. Besides, Shae wouldn't have believed her either. So instead of lying, Caroline said-

"Look, I admit that once Kol used to be a psychotic homicidal maniac and he enjoyed killing people but believe me he's changed now." Caroline said with confidence but Shae shook her head. Not agreeing with her cousin.

"The day before yesterday, Kol came back with blood on his shirt. He still kills people or at least hurts them. So what changes are you speaking of?" Caroline sighed out heavily, feeling at loss about what she should say now.

"I'm not saying Kol is like Stefan now. What I'm saying is that he doesn't enjoy taking lives anymore and avoids killing as much as he could. And this I know for sure." Caroline said which made Shanyra raise her eyebrows at her cousin.

"Are you really defending Kol? What got into you today?" Shae asked worriedly. Usually it was her who defends Kol and Caroline accuses the original for anything and everything. Today was really a very weird day.

"Besides, it isn't just about Kol killing people. Markos showed me some other things. Things that I never thought Kol was capable of doing." Shanyra spoke with not only fear but hurt and disappointment this time. Caroline frowned at her.

"What other things?" She asked.

"Things that's making me wonder, what would Kol do to me if he ever finds a way to survive without sharing the soul with me? Would he kill me too like he killed many other people after he was done using them?" Shae said worriedly and fearfully because she believed it to be a possibility.

"What? No." Caroline said strongly shaking her head vehemently.

"Kol would never hurt you Shae."

"I'm sure that's what Dulcina thought as well. She was someone Kol found pretty. He made many promises to her. Convinced her that he loved her. She was a novice but she broke all her vows for him. And then he killed her because he got bored."

"Then there was a girl named Kayla. She also fell for Kol and it got her killed. Then there was Serena and Mary and Phoebe and many others who trusted Kol, loved him and got betrayed. Tell me Caroline, why would I be an exception? Do you really believe that he'd care about me if I'm no longer useful to him." The younger cousin questioned. She sighed out heavily before continuing.

"I know that Kol got me out of hell and gave me a better life. I'll never forget it and I'll always be grateful to him for that but I can't trust him anymore. Not after-" Shae was interrupted at the sound of something breaking downstairs. She looked at Caroline with questioning eyes.

"What is that?" She asked. Caroline hesitated for a moment then said-

"That is Kol." Hearing that Shanyra's eyes widened immediately.

"He is here?" Caroline nodded her head, looking guilty. Shae couldn't believe her cousin. Kol wasn't supposed to hear anything she just said. Damn it! What's going to happen now, Shae wondered worriedly. When she and Caroline ran downstairs, they didn't find Kol there; only a broken table in the middle of the room. It wasn't good. Not good at all.

"Just great!" Shanyra sarcastically muttered under her breath.

Mystic Grill:

About an hour later, Kol found himself drinking at the bar of Mystic Grill. It appeared that getting drunk was the best way for him to deal with his emotions at the moment. He wanted to forget everything he heard Shanyra say but unfortunately each and every word was nailed into his mind. Kol would never forget them, ever. He didn't remember feeling so hurt before. His dead heart was bleeding from inside. After all the time they spent together, how could Shae even think that Kol would kill her if she was no longer useful to him. Useful? So Kol was using her now. Yesterday, they were sharing a special bond with each other and today it was something else entirely. Damn Markos for screwing things up between them.

"You know there are other people in this bar who would love to enjoy a drink too" said a female voice from beside Kol. The original didn't bother to look at her.

"Thanks for informing me that." He said sarcastically.

"Seriously, are you planning on drinking through the entire supply of booze here?" The woman asked with interest. Kol had to look up at her this time. He found a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes, pink full lips and a very gorgeous looking body. She looked very innocent and concerned as well. The concern was for Kol. It wasn't really her fault. The way he was drinking his ass off, anyone would get worried seeing him.

"Don't worry I'll spare a drink for you." Kol said and he went back to swallowing his drink.

"Girlfriend drama?" The stranger woman asked curiously after she ordered a drink for herself.

"No." Kol said. He didn't know why he bothered answering but he did.

"Lack of girlfriend drama." He said.

"My date didn't show up as well" said the woman and she laughed at little at her misfortune.

"Well I'm sure he is going to regret that." Kol said slowly engaging himself into the conversation because it was helping him taking his mind off of what Shanyra said.

"I hope so" said the woman. "I'm Violet by the way."

"Kol Mikaelson." Kol introduced himself. He quickly took her hand and planted a kiss at the back of her palm.

"It's a pleasure meeting you darling." Violet blushed brightly at the gesture. A moment of silence passed between them but the conversation resumed. It continued for a while then Violet finished her drink and decided that it was time for her to leave.

"I should leave. It's getting late." She said feeling a little shy around Kol all on a sudden. The original nodded his head. Violet got up and left. But then Kol thought of something and walked out of the Grill too. He found Violet in the parking lot. He appeared in front of her out of nowhere which startled Violet very much.

"Kol, you startled me." She complained but with a smile. It was obvious she was attracted to him.

"Sorry love. I just want to make sure you arrive home safely. May I accompany you?" Kol asked. Violet thought about it then nodded her head. Sometime later, Kol and Violet entered Violet's bedroom while kissing each other aggressively. They both were desperate and it was pretty clear from the way they were touching each other. Kol ripped her shirt off and took off his own clothes. They both fell on the bed while they continued making out. During the same time, in the Forbes residence a thirteen years old girl was going crazy thinking about what she has done and how she was going to fix things now. Damn Markos for messing with the soul mates. Damn him!

AN: This is it for now. Please read and review. Love you all :)