Hello, my lovely readers. So, I have some good news and some vague news. The good news is that I finished this story. Yes, that's right that means new chapters all the way through chapter fifty. The vague news is that one of fan favorite couples is going to take a bit longer to find their way back to each other i. e. major detours and obstacles on the way. I'm also working on another ship in this story that kind of came to me when I was watching the end of season five and wanted to try it out here which you will see in this chapter. Please, read the bottom note. On with the show…
Chapter 38: Seeing Ghosts
Feeling my head begin to pound as the humming sound continued so close to my ear, I could only think that I had been re-admitted to the hospital and had slept through the whole process. My eyes opened slowly and I frowned as my mind took in the figure beside my bed. A familiar presence was examining my photos on the nightstand. Picking one up, he smiled down at the portrait of Caroline and I on our wedding day.
"Lucky son of a bitch," he remarked as I rolled my eyes before letting out a low cough to allow him to know that I was awake. "Hello there, Klaus. Thought I didn't know that you're awake but you can't fool me, old friend," Enzo informed me with a smirk as he set the frame down.
"No, I suppose that I can't. Or at least now I cannot," I replied ruefully as I attempted to push myself into a sitting position. He sighed, watching me struggle for a moment to shove a pillow behind my back that would give me enough support.
"You're still too stubborn to ask for help when you need it I see," Enzo remarked, his gaze traveling around the room and lighting on a picture of he, Damon, Marcel and myself. Striding across the room, he took ahold of it and smiled at the photo. "Handsome devils we were," he muttered with a chuckle. "Can't get back to the glory days, now can we?"
"You never know. Someone might come up with a time machine and then we could go back. If that's really what you want?" Truly, I had no idea what Enzo wanted. I had not seen him in so long that I could say that I had almost forgotten about him. But how can you forget about one of your closest friends? Then there were the reasons that all of us had tried to forget. The human mind can only endure so much pain before it will begin to tap into anything that will protect itself and if that means purging itself of the ugliness of the world, well that is exactly what it will do.
Giving my head a slight shake, I pushed the difficult memories away. "Enzo?" I called.
"Yeah, mate?" Enzo called back, his eyes still on the photo.
"Have you seen Damon lately?" I am not sure why I asked this question. I was curious, I suppose.
Looking at me, Enzo's eyebrows rose and he grinned. "Of course. I got word that he and Lena had a couple of little Salvabrats and couldn't wait to get a peek at the little ones."
"Oh," I was surprised. Somehow I thought that Enzo would have more to say about Damon than the children but how was I to know what Enzo was interested in.
"They're gorgeous. Don't look a lick like their father," Enzo told me with another chuckle. "Oh, and Damon needs to shave. He looks like a bloody heathen at the moment."
"Yes, he does," I replied with a smirk.
"Tell him that for me, will you?" Enzo inquired.
"Sure," I replied with a nod as a tapping sound entered into a space and my attention moved to the door.
"Who are you talking to?" Caroline asked me as she walked inside with Bonnie.
"Hi, Klaus," Bonnie said before I could reply to my wife's question as Caroline came to stand beside me and to fuss with my pillow. Adjusting the pillow to her specifications, Caroline gave me a stern look.
"Were you talking to yourself, again?" Caroline frowned as she spoke and Bonnie folded her arms over her chest. She was trying to stay out of one of my and Caroline's many quarrels.
"No, love," I informed Caroline patiently as Enzo came to stand beside Bonnie. He was examining her closely before reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder to brush a curl aside. When his hand passed through her, his look became pained. "I was talking to an old friend."
"Oh, I didn't hear the phone ring," Caroline told me as she smoothed out the pillow case.
"You must have been busy," I replied lightly as Bonnie smiled. "Perhaps you should go out for a walk. Allow someone else to tend to me for an hour," I murmured. Caroline gave me another stern look before leaning down and pressing her lips to my forehead.
"I will be back in thirty minutes. I will be next door with Elena and the babies," Caroline whispered. Turning, she left me and Bonnie to it.
"How are you feeling today?" Bonnie inquired as she opened a baggie and picked up a mug by my side. This had become one of our little rituals. She would bring me herbal treatments, I would drink them and tell her how much good they were doing me.
"Alright," I told her. "Enzo says 'Hello, Dr. Bennett," I called after Bonnie who stopped in mid-stride. Looking at me, I saw her eyes begin to glisten as she smiled brightly.
I woke up in a similar state of confusion when Enzo woke me up in our old room. "Get up, Nik," Enzo shouted. "It's time to get with the daring and things. What are you going to do? Lay about all day."
"Are you insane?" I snapped. Not for the first time did I question my decision to create a new branch of the dare club. This was made clearer by Enzo's apparent belief that he was the leader of this chapter of the group.
"Damon is bored. Marcel is pining after some girl. Diego has tried to jump out of the window. Perhaps because I dared him to. And poor Thierry's hair has gone gray with waiting for you to get up," Enzo yanked Thierry in front of me and pulled the boy's cap off.
"That's because you dared Damon to dye it this color," Thierry snarled before grabbing his cap and placing it over his shocking new hairdo.
"He didn't have to," Enzo replied lightly. "When do the women show up again? Haven't seen a lovely lady in ages."
"Not till next weekend," Damon called as he came into the room.
"What about Lijah?" I asked, feeling my stomach roll.
Damon replied "Elijah's not coming. But Care and Lena and a few others are and he didn't say who exactly." My stomach did another spin because I did not like the sounds of not knowing who exactly was coming. However, I chose to not push the issue. Thankfully, Enzo decided to helpfully be rude and to keep the attention on himself.
"Bloody hell," Enzo said. "I like him. He's a bit stodgy at times. But I like him still. So, why isn't the eldest Mikaeslon coming?" Rolling my eyes upward at the ceiling, I found myself smirking at Enzo's word choice. I could see Elijah pulling out a dictionary and giving Enzo a lecture on why stodgy was an incorrect adjective to describe him with. After giving Enzo a whole list of new insults Elijah would then move on to helping Enzo improve his use of the English language. "He's not stodgy," Damon snapped. "What's stodgy mean?" Ignoring Enzo's question he asked me and I rolled my eyes once again. I did not want to get into the middle of this argument. My energies were much better spent on fantasies of Caroline being there with me or how to rid the new dare club of its new leader.
My thoughts were scattered from my mind when the door to our room went flying open to reveal an irritated Marcel. "Women suck," Marcel announced loudly as he came into the room and threw down a bunch of flowers that he had clutched in his hand. He promptly flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling with an arm over his eyes.
"What happened?" Thierry asked and I raised my eyebrows. Marcel did not remove his arm nor did he bother to respond. Sitting up, I opened my mouth. I was about to try to encourage our friend to speak because I could see he was in a great amount of pain when Damon spoke up.
"Just some chick drama. Who cares?" Damon grumbled. Pursing my lips as my eyebrows knitted together, I was about to object when Enzo decided to interrupt again.
"Oh, Elena," Enzo moaned into the phone that he was making with his hand. "I love you. No, I love you more. I love you a billion times more. Kissey. Kissey. Kissey."
"Shut your face before I shut it with my fist," Damon snapped.
"He's jealous because he doesn't have a girlfriend," Thierry told Damon who was still flushed with his fists balled.
Getting up, I looked around the room. It looked like things were becoming out of control and I was not in the mood for chaos. "Come on, everyone. Let it go."
"Right," Damon said, rolling his eyes around the room. He seemed to be trying to find something else to do. "Can we please find anything else to do other than talking about the little chickies?"
"Wait! I have an idea!" Enzo shouted, jumping on top of his bed and pointing a finger in the air. "Let's call the girls and give them dares."
"Why?" Damon asked, his shoulders slumping as he plopped down on his own bed.
"Because we can bloody well torture them," Enzo told him. "I have dibs on the little Gilbert girl."
"What?" Damon yelled as Enzo grinned at him.
"I thought you didn't fancy her, mate," Enzo replied, flopping down on his rear end and grinning at Damon.
"Enzo," Damon snarled back and Enzo grinned.
Propping himself up by his elbows, Enzo looked to me. "Tell me, Nik, you have other girls in the group, yes? Tell me which one would I most likely be able to get a rise out of?"
Frowning, I began to think. My first thought was of Caroline as always. Then I thought of Bekah. Then Katherine. She usually lost her temper easily. Too easy. Perhaps someone else. Then it occurred to me.
"Bonnie Bennett," I told him and Damon's eyebrows rose before he began to grin.
"Great idea, Nik. Let's torture Bonnie," Damon said excitedly. "And leave the other girls out of it."
"Oh, no. The others are going to be a bit of fun as well," Enzo informed Damon who sneered at him. "What shall I dare Miss Bennett to do?"
"She's a witch," Damon pointed out. "So, just dare her to do something witchy."
"Alright then," Enzo got up and headed down the hall toward the pay phone. We did not have our own phones for obvious reasons being that our parents did not want to have to pay for enormous bills.
Picking up the phone, Enzo dug out a quarter out of his pants and slipped into the slot. "What's the girl's number?" Damon recited it and we waited for someone to pick up. "Hello. I'm looking for a Bonnie? Right then. Thank you ever so much." Hanging up, Enzo looked at the others. "Seems the girls are all at Elena Gilbert's. Give me a quarter, Damon."
"Why?" Damon snapped, frowning.
Enzo smirked at him. "Because she's your bird." Damon shook his head as he pulled out a quarter and slapped it into Enzo's palm. "Right." Popping the quarter in, Enzo dialed from memory. "Lena," he called into the phone with a grin. "May I speak to the lovely Bonnie? What do you mean I've never met her before? Damon talks about her all the time. He can't seem to stop talking about her. It's like he's in lo-"
Enzo stopped in mid-sentence when Damon punched him in the gut, causing his friend to bend over and begin to puff out air. Grabbing the phone, Damon began to speak. "Lena, hey. How are things?" We could hear Elena telling Damon that she missed him.
Good. I miss you, too. Is Stef there? I know it's all girls but…"
"No, it's not," Elena called back. "Stefan's here. And Jer. And Alaric. And Kol."
Damon nodded although Elena couldn't see him. Looking at us, he forced a smile. "Lena, I dare you to kiss Stefan."
"What?" Elena practically shouted. "Why would you want me to do that?"
"It's a dare Lena. So, do it or pass it," Damon said as Enzo snickered.
"Pass," Elena snapped into the phone. "Caroline, kiss Stefan."
"No," Caroline shouted and I winced. "Pass. Bonnie, kiss Stefan."
"Why?" Bonnie cried.
"Because Damon dared you to," Elena told her.
"Damon sucks," Bonnie muttered.
"Don't forget the picture," Damon called into the phone with his lips pressed to the receiver. "Elena, I dare you to never speak to me again," he informed Elena to the sound of silence and then Bonnie came on the phone.
"Damon, you're the biggest jerk, like ever," Bonnie yelled only she was now yelling into Enzo's ear.
"Then it's a good thing that I'm not Damon," Enzo replied and Bonnie stopped speaking.
"Who is this?" Bonnie asked and Enzo grinned.
"This is Lorenzo, I'm the president of this chapter of the Dare Club," he announced, rubbing his stomach in the area that Damon had hit him.
"But who are you?" Bonnie asked, still sounding confused and Enzo's smile slipped.
"A mate of Damon and Nik's," Enzo replied slowly.
"I don't like Damon," Bonnie informed him. "And if you're a friend of Damon's, I don't like you either." Then there was the sound of a definitive click.
"The bird just hung up on me," Enzo told them, his eyes going wide with shock.
Marcel shook his head and grabbed the receiver. "Damon, man, you drooled on the receiver," he exclaimed disgusted as he took a handful of Damon's shirt and wiped the receiver off. Dropping a quarter into the slot, he dialed Elena's number again. "Hello, may I speak to Miss Elena?" Smiling, Marcel nodded at the group. "Hey, Elena, so Damon is really sorry. It's really all Enzo's fault. We're almost positive that he is actually the spawn of the devil. Anyway, I dare you to eat a rose."
"What did I ever do to you people?" Elena shrieked into the phone before there was the sound of a dial tone.
"Thierry, you're up," Marcel announced and Thierry looked confused.
"Why me? I don't really know these girls?" Thierry was saying as Damon shoved him in front of the phone. Enzo dropped a quarter into the boy's hand.
"Because we're almost out of people," Enzo explained. "Nik's our last member. So, he'll have to make his a good one. That means that you can make yours as horrid as you wish."
Thierry was trembling when he dialed the number and looked at our expectant faces. "Yes, I was looking for an Elena Gilbert, M'am," he said slowly.
"I'm not a M'am," Katherine purred into the phone. "Elena, phone!" she shouted into Thierry's ear.
"No," Elena screamed at her sister.
"Whatever," Katherine murmured. "What do you want, kid?"
Thierry looked around at the rest of us with a pleading look. "Strip and video tape it," Enzo shouted into the phone and Katherine sighed.
"Again?" was Katherine's bored reply. "Why don't you kids find something more interesting to do with your lives?" Then there was the sound of the dial tone once again.
I sighed heavily. Now, it was my turn. Dropping the quarter, I dialed the Gilbert's number and Caroline picked up. "We're not part of your stupid chapter or your stupid club so you can't dare us to do things. So, stop calling," she yelled into my ear.
"Caroline, it's me," I replied and I heard Caroline gasp.
"Oh, Nik. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to yell but they're being mean and Lena is puking that flower. People aren't supposed to eat roses," she yelled and Marcel looked at his feet. "Anyway, I am coming to see you next time. Kay? and there's something I have to tell you. Something bad," she was whispering now and I had no idea what was going on.
"What are you talking about, Caroline?" I questioned Caroline, running through various scenarios that left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"I can't say on the phone, Nik. I have to tell you when we come to see you," Caroline said. "But it's really bad, Nik. It's just really, really bad."
"Did someone hurt you?" I demanded, feeling my temper begin to boil.
"No. not me, Nik," Caroline replied and her use of my name over and over again made me nervous.
"Are you okay?" I asked her and I could hear her breathing quicker.
"Yes. No. I don't know. I shouldn't have stuck my nose in where it doesn't belong. That's what people tell me all the time. And now I know why she's like she is. Now, I know. And I don't want to know because it's horrible, Nik. But I can't tell. Okay," Caroline was rambling and where as I usually liked it when she did this, right now, she was making me terribly nervous.
"Caroline," I began when she cut me off.
"I'll tell you when we get there." Then Caroline hung up. I didn't even get to ask who we included and we were out of quarters.
"What happened?" Enzo demanded and I shook my head, dazed.
"No idea," I replied. "Let's go outside and play football."
"American of Brit?" Damon asked me.
"Doesn't matter," I told him as we walked back to my room. My main concern was for Caroline and it did not help that I was halfway across the country from her without any way of coming home. Apparently I would simply have to sit back and wait.
Okay, so that was the end of chapter 38. The next one is the possibly dreaded Hayley chapter in which you will find out about the dark secret that she and Elijah were hiding and is the reason that she arrived in Mystic Falls. It was a really hard chapter to write because I'm touching upon a subject that effects many people and is not easy to talk about.
Anyway, on the bright side there is also quite a bit of Klaroline in the chapter as well. So, that is something to look forward to, I hope.
Oh, and I started to work on the next story in The MysticFallsDareClub series called DareMe. It's a bit dark as are some of the chapters of the rest of the story such as chapter 39 but this is a Klaus story so that was to be expected, yes?
Ferrylis: I love to write about Klaus having the little moments of having no idea how to behave with Caroline. Ah, growing pains or the road to true love was paved with many craters.
Klaroline4ever96: They are cute. Aren't they? As for their growing up it's a long, long, long process but we'll get there sometime before the year 2020. ;)
Tippy093: Great question. Yes, I do plan on writing about their awkward early teens. Actually that is what the story DareMe will follow before we move forward to I DareYou which picks up during Klaus and Damon's freshman year of high school year and then Caroline will join them during the boys' sophomore year. As for the kiss at 12/13… I hope that you don't mind waiting a little longer than that because when Klaus said a "long time" about a million chapters ago he meant a loooonnnnnnggggggggg time. Or more what for a kid would seem like a century.
ScarlettRose: I know. Sometimes I forget that health is important. It would be great to win an Emmy or any award in the future. But first I have to make some money so that I can become one of the EPs for my how and drive people nuts with my decisions. ;)
It is fun to write about Mikael and the way that Klaus sees him as he grows up. One day his father is a hero; the next he's a super villain and then he's just a human who's doing what he thinks is best no matter how much it drives his kids nuts. It's also fun to write about Mikael's interactions with the other children. He guest stars in the first chapter of DareMe, the sequel to this story. So, that's very exciting to think about. I know it's sad to see a lot of the couples that we've shipped dying or disappearing, although I'm one of those viewers who multi-ships. I've loved Delena from the beginning, had a flirtation with Elejah and five seconds of shipping Stelena. There's Kalijah which I felt like they never really got a chance and when they were together we didn't even get to see it. (Darn time limits and focus of the show.) But Katherine always bounces back and she persued Stefan again which was fine by me because I was a Stetherine fan in season 2. Now, I'll admit that I ship Beremy on the show and Kennett in my work almost all of the time. Why do I ship Jer and Bon on the show? Because they never seem to get a break. They're always dying and going through hell but they always seem to find each other again. Then there is Rebekah. I could ship Rebekah with a tree. Seriously. Bekah has chemistry with almost everyone. I love Stebekah especially in season four when he took her to their own private 80s' themed dance. It was too cute for words. I was also Team Maroline or whatever name they used for Matt and Care. Then I shipped Forwood which could not prepare me for the power of Klaorline. And that was it. Klaroline is end game for me. I just can't see them find replacements and this coming from a multi-shipper at heart. Anyway, we will see what the future holds.
I know that it probably seems like forever before the kids grow up in this story but they will. I promise and you will see everyone falling in and out of love, having sex and all of the growing pains that come with it. Thank you. Changing Elena around and around is one of my favorite pastimes. There are times that I want to scream at her but then I go back to liking her. It's a love hate relationship because I love Damon more than almost anyone else on TVD and nearly flipped when they killed him. Can't wait to see Ian's lovely face on my TV screen once more.
So, I'm sure that you're thrilled to note that I finished this story. I always wanted them to develop a Nik Damon bromance and I would do a back flip if after TVD ended and TO is still on (cross my fingers) that Ian would sign on to at least to appear as a guest star or better yet a series regular with Candice. That would be a dream. After all, TO is the land of the villains and who is a better villain that Damon?
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I love Marcel. He is awesome and that I am coming to appreciate Enzo. Then there's Davina and Josh. I love those kids and my heart leaps at the idea that something will happen to either of them. Then there's Jackson. I don't know what to think of him. I mean I felt like he could turn out to be really evil. Like worse than Klaus evil. I'm not sure. Then again one of my theories was that Davina would turn out to be Klaus and Hayley's daughter and I was so wrong about that. So, we will see whether Jackson will turn out to be bad for the group or not…
Alexis2106: Hello, thank you for the compliments. I love to write Delena drama with some Klaorline, then the cuteness spilling out of one's ears. The funny thing about Katherine versus Hayley in this story is that I've barely developed Hayley which makes it harder to root for her and Elijah. What I can say is that changes a little bit as the story progresses. And, yes, part of that is because of the first season on TO I fell in love with Hayley and Elijah. But I had already started writing TheMysticFallsDareClub which gave a dilemma to deal with as I wrote this story. What dawned on me is that nothing worth having is ever easy to gain. So, Hayley is not so much an obstacle to Katherine's and Elijah's relationship because of their being together so much as she was there when the relationship was falling apart. And as you will see in the next chapter there is much more than meets the eye to Hayley. If any of that makes sense at all.
Elijahlover: I only take cookies from strange people in black hooded robes if they're chocolate chip. Yes, I think that there was Haylijah liking substance laced in suspect cookie that makes my brain foggy. Hmmm… Anyway, I can't say that this is a Haylijah fic because that would kind of ruin the rest of the story. Let's say that the two are a bit off again, on again. They are very close friends that will love each other no matter what comes of their relationship. However, even when Elijah hates Katherine he still loves her. So, I would say that by the end of the story that each of the three are kind of doing their own thing.
Rose: Damon does like Elena but he's a bit too young to fully understand what that means exactly. But he'll figure it out as time passes… Klaus is going to have more problems than jealousy when it comes to Caroline.
As for Stelena I have no idea. We will see. And Rebekah being badly behaved… life has a tendency to come up and bite us when we're least suspecting it…
Guest: Thank you. I love to hear that.
CB4389: Thank you. I love to write in little scenes that can be foreshadowing moments and something that you can look back at and go "Ohhh." And I think we see a lot of scenes like that when they go to high school like forever from now.
Nicole: Yes, they will grow up but they will not be in high school until the third story. So, hang in there.
Klaroline4everlove: Thank you.
Peace,
Jessica