Because of all your awesome reviews (even the one from the guest 'Pissed', who apparently was pissed at "the crap I pull", because that was hilarious) about Caroline kicking ass I thought that I should post the next chapter since I've already finished it. It's a long one and shit goes down.
I feel like there should be some sort of trigger warning or just warning against violence. It's not explicit, but especially the end might make some people a little uncomfortable.
A quick note: The redhead is supposed to look like Evan Rachel Wood who played Queen Sophie-Anne on True Blood.
Auburn curls blew in the wind as the woman stood in front of the small plantation with a calculating look in her eyes. She was listening, smelling, searching her surroundings carefully and as she started walking towards the two-story house a sinister smile spread on her lips.
She didn't bother to knock before she opened the door and entered the vampire-infested house, striding into a large common room as if she owned the place to find about five vampires lounging in the sofas. She frowned in disgust when she saw the mess they had made and her eyes landed on a woman in her thirties, who was being fed from by a female vampire.
"Who the hell are you?" a gruff-looking man asked, when he finally noticed her leaning against the door frame with a hand on her hip, and rose from his seat. "And how did you get in here?"
"Oh honey, I don't need an invitation." the woman replied with a smirk on her lips, hiding her irritation. "And surely, Pheodora must have informed you of my arrival."
"You're the powerful vampire Pheodora told us about." another vampire stated and the redhead eyed the woman with pursed lips before stepping further into the room, moving past the unfriendly vampire to stand in front of the seated vampires.
"I am. And who might you be?" the woman replied and casted a curious glance at the rest of the gang. They all met her gaze; some fascinated, others disinterested but the redhead's eyes landed on the human, who was whimpering in pain and still bleeding from the puncture marks on her wrist.
"I'm Natasha and this is Lee, Dennis and Jessica." Natasha told her eagerly and the redhead half-smiled at her as she pointed at the vampires in the sofas. Natasha then nodded towards the man that had greeted her and who was still glaring at her. "And that idiot is Brian."
"I am guessing that you all nurture a strong hatred towards Klaus Mikaelson?" the woman asked after a short pause and studied the vampires' faces intently for any off reaction.
"Don't you?" Brian barked as he moved to stand in front of her with his arms crossed and his chest heaved. The woman almost rolled her eyes at his alpha male tendencies; she had had enough of those.
"I am in no way obligated to answer your question, Brian, but I suggest your answer mine." the redhead replied with a sweet voice and smiled at the vampire, who blinked in surprise at her threatening manner.
"If I could, I would rip his head off with my own hands." Brian growled at her before stepping away with clenched fists. The woman looked at the others expectantly and noticed how Natasha's eyes suddenly were fixed on the floor.
"He turned my sister, Kim, into a hybrid and later killed her." Lee replied coldly and the woman realized with raised eyebrows that the man in fact wasn't a vampire, but a werewolf. She then looked to Jessica, who watched her with a bored expression as her fingers absentmindedly played with the hair of the human woman she had fed from.
"He killed my sire, when he took over this city from Marcel." Jessica said and the redhead frowned at the lack of emotion that the vampire displayed.
"He and the Ripper killed the woman I loved back in twenties. She was human." Dennis told with clear anger in his voice and the woman tilted her head questioningly.
"The Ripper?" she asked and noticed how Dennis' lips turned into a thin line.
"Stefan Salvatore. Infamous blood addict, who turns into the Ripper when his switch is off." Dennis explained and the woman nodded in recognition.
"I've heard of him. He still resides with the hybrid, doesn't he?" she asked curiously and looked at the mourning vampire, who nodded in return. She then turned to Natasha, who still wasn't looking at her and moved closer to the vampire. "And you?"
"I'm here with Jessica. I guess I'm doing her a favor." Natasha informed her with a small voice and finally met the eyes of the redheaded vampire, surprised by the worried look in her green eyes.
"Quite the favor, isn't it?" the woman said with a lifted eyebrow and turned her head to look at Jessica, who was more interested in the human blood bag beside her.
"She turned me a while back when I was dying after a hit and run on a deserted street. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her." Natasha explained and sent Jessica a smile that didn't seem to reach her eyes.
"I see." the woman said with a contemplating voice and let her eyes glide around the room again. "I suppose that you're all on vervain?"
"Of course." Brian huffed with a smug grin on his face and the woman simply nodded.
"Are there others in this house?" she then asked and everyone but Jessica frowned in question.
"Three vamps upstairs." Lee said after a long moment of silence and a concentrated expression spread across the redhead's features as if she was checking herself. "Should we call them down here?"
"No, they will come down themselves soon enough." the woman told him in a cryptic voice and then turned her attention to the human in the sofa. She quickly crouched in front of her and the human winced in fear, when the woman took her hands in hers.
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." the woman told the human and her pupils dilated because of the compulsion as the human nodded. "I want you to get your family and walk out of here. Then I want you to go on a two-week vacation to somewhere you always wanted to go. And you will forget everything that happened here, do you understand?"
The redheaded ignored Jessica's protests and watched as the human nodded as if in a trance and then got up from the sofa to leave.
"What the hell?" Jessica asked, clearly annoyed by the woman's actions but was ignored as she walked over to Natasha.
"Natasha, I'm giving you the chance to leave now. Run far away from here and forget about all of this. Jessica's has flipped the switch and she doesn't care about you. You might think that you owe her but nothing but your death will come of this.
"So do yourself a favor and leave. Now. Go see the world, live. Spain is amazing this time of year. Visit the cathedral in Seville; it's beautiful. But you need to leave now." the redhead told her with an insistent voice and a tense silence filled the room as Natasha shared a long look with her sire. A whoosh of air went through the room as the vampire sped out of there and the werewolf rose from the sofa in indignation.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at the woman, but she didn't answer as she was focused on the sound of scouring feet and the front door that closed after the human family of three as they left the house.
"I knew your sister." the woman then told Lee, whose eyes widened in shock. "She was a bitch. Quite literally."
The redhead almost laughed when the werewolf launched at her and she easily grabbed him by the throat, making the three other vampires jump in alert. Lee growled at her and she could see a yellow tint appear in his eyes.
"You really shouldn't do that when it's not a full moon, Lee." she drawled with a smirk on her lips and then bared her fangs at him. He was still struggling in her hold and she tightened it slightly as she lifted him a few centimeters off the floor. "Your sister spent a whole afternoon torturing me because she was a little unsatisfied with how things were going. If that doesn't make her a bitch then what does?"
"You probably deserved it." Lee managed to say as he slowly choked in her grasp and loud crack resounded through the room as the werewolf fell to the floor with a broken neck. Brian stood in front of her the next second, but froze when her hand dug into his chest, clutching his rapidly beating heart between her fingers.
"You helped kidnap Klaus' son, didn't you?" she asked casually and sighed when the vampire was idiotic enough to smile smugly despite the pain.
"And what did you plan to do with the boy?" she then asked with strained anger in her voice, taking the vampire's smile as 'yes'.
"He's a child of a monster and one day he will become one himself. I would be doing the world a favor if I kil-" the vampire said maliciously before falling to the floor mid-sentence. The two other vampires watched in horror as the red-head tossed the heart on top of the body and looked down at the dead vampire with an uncontrollable anger.
"Wrong answer." she sneered at him and she turned to look at the remaining vampires with a small tilt of her head.
The woman hissed in pain when she felt a needle in the back of shoulder, but reacted with the blink of an eye, pulling it out before being injected with the liquid and spun around to empty the content into the assaulting vampire's eye. Her attacker screamed in pain as she fell to the floor, but the red-head barely had time to breathe before a searing pain shot through the left side of her chest.
She groaned more of irritation than anything else as she pulled the stake from her heart and she was surprised to see how paralyzed her four opponents were as they watched her in shock. With a quick movement she threw the stake at Jessica, who fell to the floor with grey skin and dark veins slowly covering it.
The woman had grabbed the stake from the corpse's heart before it even hit the floor, but halted for a second when multiple shots went off and she felt wooden bullets ripple through her abdomen. She stopped breathing as her lungs seemed to deflate for a short moment, but rushed towards the shooter while ignoring the pain. He didn't seem to register what was happening as she pried the gun off him and pushed the stake through his heart, leaving only Dennis and one other vampire alive.
She fired a precise shot at Dennis and he fell to the floor in pain as the bullet imbedded itself just under his heart, leaving him inches from death. The gun flew from her hand as the last vampire attacked her and she gasped when she felt his hand dig into her chest, taking a hold of her heart.
The vampire's bones snapped as the woman squeezed his wrist and pulled his hand out of her, creating a horrified expression on his face. The shock barely managed to settle on his face before he fell to the floor; heartless and with grey skin.
The redhead took a moment to breathe and her eyes glided through the room to look at her work, making her frown in disgust. This wasn't what was supposed to happen and she suddenly felt very uncomfortable in her skin, when she noticed the blood that was splattered on her clothes and hands. Her body was aching from the hits she had taken herself, but she hardly thought of that as she looked at the dead vampires and werewolf.
She was brought out of her reverie, when a groan came from behind her and she turned around to see Dennis fight his way to his feet. She was in front of him the next second, pinning him against the wall as she withdrew a vervain soaked knife from the holster in her right boot and held it against his throat.
"I am sorry for your loss, Dennis, I really am. But it happened almost a hundred years ago and unless you were planning to turn her, she would have been dead now anyway. I happen to know the Ripper – yes, I lied, my apologies – and I know how much he regrets all of it. Now tell me, how many daughters, mothers, lovers or wives have you killed the last century? Do you even remotely regret it?" the woman said with a tired voice and shook her head when Dennis opened his mouth to speak; it was a rhetorical question.
"Think about the families they left behind and then think about your own pain. You see, I'm going to give you a choice, Dennis. You can leave this city now and never come back. Move on from your loss and forget about Stefan Salvatore and Klaus Mikaelson. Or you can stay and fight. But then I'll make sure that Klaus will know exactly who you are and you'll be dead by morning. Do you understand?" she asked with an insistent voice and the man quickly nodded, wincing when the knife grazed his skin.
"I'm leaving tonight, so I won't know what you choose, but I'm going to make sure the hybrid will recognize you. It's a funny thing this vampire healing. A bullet to the head and you survive; trust me, I've tried it. But lose a limb and it never grows back. So Dennis, I want you to think about a part of your body that you can live without for the rest of your immortal life and then… chop chop." she told him and an ominous smile was on her lips as he stared at her with wide frightened eyes.
"Okay then." she said after a long pause as Dennis finally seemed to settle on a limb. Without hesitation she lifted the knife and stabbed his right ring finger, making most of it land on the floor with a small thud. Dennis barely had time to react before he too was lying on the floor with a broken neck.
While twirling the knife in her hands she walked over to one of the sofas and sat down, feeling uncharacteristically exhausted. She didn't register the pain in her back or how shallow her breath had become as she once again looked around the room; shocked by her own actions.
She had been angry, seen red and lost control and now she could feel how an insatiable hunger threatened to overtake her. Her self-control was faltering and she needed to get away before she lost herself even more. She looked at her bloodied hands for a long moment before removing her white blazer and wiping them clean with it.
The front door opened just as she moved to get up from her seat and she fell back with a tired sigh, crossing her legs and arms and brought an unbothered look to her face. Her façade almost cracked when she saw the person who walked into the room, taking in his surroundings with an open mouth.
"Not you too, Colin." she said with a disappointed voice and the vampire finally seemed to notice her, speeding forwards and grabbing the gun from the floor.
"What happened?! Who are you?" Colin asked urgently as he aimed at her with a shocked expression on his face. With a small groan she got up from the sofa and casually strolled towards him, making him raise the gun higher and her to roll her eyes.
"I don't know. I just arrived like you." the redhead lied with a small shrug and looked around at the seven bodies scattered around the room. She hid a smile when Colin lowered his gun a little, seemingly believing her and placed herself right in front of him.
"Is Pheodora coming?" she then asked and met his gaze calmly.
"She's a little late, but she sent me to welcome you. What happened here?!" Colin replied with a distracted voice and then looked around the room with horror in his eyes.
"Well, I guess she just have to take a message then." the woman said, ignoring Colin's question and he immediately turned his eyes back to her as he frowned confusingly.
"Aren't you staying?"
"Nope, I was actually just on my way out. But I'm so happy that I ran into you, Colin. Let me guess, you hate Klaus Mikaelson for some very noble reason and you want him gone. So you somehow earned his trust and got behind enemy lines.
"What really bothers me is how close you were to Henrik this whole time, but the boy didn't trust you a bit. Was it you who told him to run out of the house so he could get kidnapped? Because that was a very dick move." She started casually and moved forward until Colin was standing with his back against the wall as she sneered at him.
"Who are you?" Colin asked with equal fear and anger and the redhead smiled as she took a couple of steps back, allowing him to aim the gun at her once more.
"I'm a little offended that you don't remember me. I thought you flirted with me because I was special." she fake-pouted and then tilted her head with a small smirk on her lips as her auburn curls turned blonde and her eyes went from green to cornflower blue. "But maybe you do that with all the girls."
"Caroline." Colin managed to choke out after a long moment of stunned silence and she sent him a beaming smile that quickly fell when the gun went off, sending a bullet flying just beside her head.
"I knew there was something fishy about you. But you are hot and I got distracted." Caroline said after rushing forward and pinning Colin against the wall with a hand around his throat. She quickly grabbed the gun from his hand and tossed it across the room, making a dent in the wall it hit.
"Out of all of these, you're the worst. Yes, I killed them and I don't feel particularly good about it, but they died quickly and I'm certainly not going to promise you the same. You used an innocent child; a really cute kid that I like and you know what Klaus swore to me just a couple of hours ago? A very violent death to whoever took his son. Which means that you're pretty high on both our hit lists right now." Caroline told him with a low threatening voice and she could almost feel him shake with fear.
"Kill me then. Cross me off your list." Colin spat back and an impressed smile spread on Caroline' lips. He was clearly scared, but he wasn't a complete idiot. That didn't help him now, though. Nothing would.
"Sorry, too much blood on my hands already. But I think Klaus will be happy to have the honor." she told him with a cheerful smile and she could almost smell his fear.
"Fuck you!" Colin yelled at her as he struggled against her hold and Caroline's eyes narrowed while she pursed her lips in annoyance. Before Colin could even think of running, she ran to the sofa where she had tossed her knife and back again, slamming his head into the wall.
"Rude." she told him with a stern voice before cutting off his left middle finger in a quick movement, making Colin scream out in pain. She then buried her knife deep in his sternum, making him cry out again until Caroline killed his screams with a snap of his neck.
Without thinking about what she had just done, Caroline sped to the house's kitchen and found a pen and paper. She then wrote 'I warned you. Leave New Orleans now. Love Sofia' with her best handwriting and ran back to the common room, where she grabbed her knife from Colin's chest and pinned the note to the wall with it.
Without a second glance at the room, she left through the front door and sped away to her hotel room and jumped to her balcony from the roof, disappearing before anyone could notice the girl in the bloodied shirt.
Caroline's body was aching and her throat was dry from hunger, but she ignored it as she fell back on her bed and closed her eyes to rest for a few minutes.
Rebekah was scowling – more than usually – and she felt the irritation gnaw at her; all because of that pesky blonde. Caroline had been missing for over two hours now, but no one really seemed to do anything about it. Stefan had gone after her after giving her the right amount of 'space', but had returned an hour later with no sight of her. So instead he had resorted to sulking in the living room while Bonnie had overtaken the search.
Elijah was busy with Henrik, who as the only one seemed to be in a decent mood. She couldn't help but be impressed by the young boy who seemed to press on despite everything that was happening around him. Henrik had asked about Caroline when he woke an hour ago and Elijah had looked at her questioningly, not sure what was actually going on.
Rebekah had already told him about the whole 'Caroline-not-remembering-them' situation, but he knew nothing of the fight that had made Caroline storm out of there with the promise to leave town. She didn't feel like telling it all to her brother in front of the boy, so she had just said that Caroline was visiting a friend and told that she would soon come back when Henrik kept asking. Which made her disappearance even more intolerable.
She wasn't the only one missing, though. Nik had rushed out of the house soon after he had checked on his son and didn't answer any of their calls. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out where he was, but his silence still pissed her off.
Rebekah had always been more or less jealous of Caroline. She couldn't help it and she knew it was ridiculous. She was an Original vampire; others should be envious of her. What bothered her most about the woman was how every man in her life seemed to have some special connection to her.
She had tried stealing Tyler away at first but he was too in love to do more than indulge in his new vampire nature with her a few times. Then there was Stefan, who acted as if Caroline hadn't left them all for five years and seemed to go right back to being the girl's best friend. Matt and Caroline had been dating as well and Caroline hadn't exactly hidden her distaste for his relationship with Rebekah. Even Elijah and Kol seemed to admire her; each their way.
And worst of all was Nik. The brother she had spent a millennium trying to redeem, seeking his love and respect just to be run over by a baby vampire. Elijah and she had fought for centuries just to get a glimpse of what Caroline seemed to awaken in their brother every time he laid eyes on her.
Only Henrik had ever had the same effect on the hybrid, but Rebekah suspected that even that was at least partially in due to Caroline. Despite being jealous of the other blonde, Rebekah could not make herself hate her after everything she had unknowingly done for her family.
Which made her even more irritated, because after Nik's accusations she pitied Caroline. She had been on the receiving end of that too many times and even though she would never admit it, she admired Caroline for taking a stand against her brother despite the mess it had created.
The shrill noise of her phone ringing pulled her out of her thoughts and she huffed when she saw the caller ID. She had half a mind not to answer but after ignoring it for two rings, she pressed the green icon on the phone's screen.
"What?" she greeted annoyingly.
"Rebekah, hi! I tried to call Klaus, but he didn't answer and I'm guessing he's in a really bad mood so I didn't want to find him. And then I thought that I might call and tell you instead even though I really don't know if you care, but you know better safe than sorry." the vampire rambled and Rebekah took a deep breath before answering.
"What do you want, Josh?"
"Klaus told me to keep an eye on this blonde girl a couple of days ago and I just wanted to tell that I saw her jump from the rooftop to her balcony in a secretive kind of way and she haven't left the room since." Josh quickly told her, eager to relay his news and then hang up again.
Rebekah had a hard time understanding why her brother would choose Josh of all people, especially since the baby vamp annoyed the hell out of all of them. But she also had to admit that Josh was the least suspicious-looking vampire under Nik's orders and he usually did great on recon tasks.
"When was this?" she asked after a short moment of thought and a smile had spread on Rebekah's lips. She was definitely going to find Caroline and talk some sense into her. Or maybe even beat it. After all, the blonde couldn't just come here and shatter their peace and then leave without picking up the pieces.
"About half an hour ago." Josh said with a small voice and Rebekah felt like reaching through the phone to choke him.
"And what the bloody hell have you been doing for half an hour?" she barked at him and she could almost hear him flinch on the other end.
"Calling Klaus."
"How many times?"
"Twice?" Josh said questioningly as if he wasn't sure it wasn't the right answer. It wasn't.
"Sometimes I wonder how you're still alive, Josh." Rebekah sneered at him as she rose from her bed, put away her laptop and stepped into her blue Jimmy Choo heels.
"Me too."
"Stay where you are and call me the second you see her leave. If she does then follow her." she ordered quickly as she strode down the hall towards the stairs that led to the entrance hall. "I'll be there in two minutes."
"Okay, but what about-" Josh's words were interrupted as Rebekah pressed the red icon on her screen, ending their call as she exited the house and sped towards Caroline's hotel.
Rebekah didn't bother looking for Josh before she walked through the entrance door, passing through the lobby before Marie had time to greet her. She paused for a moment outside of Caroline's door, wondering if she should knock or not, but decided against it after a few seconds.
The room she walked into was empty, but Rebekah quickly noticed the packed bag on the bed, revealing that Caroline hadn't left town yet. Her eyes then landed on something beside the bag and she moved closer to find an envelope with a diamond bracelet placed upon it.
She recognized the bracelet as one of the many regal jewels her brother had 'acquired' over the years and the tip of her fingers brushed it lightly in admiration. She had always loved that bracelet and had looked through their collection many times through the years to find it, only to realize that Nik still kept it to himself. For some reason, she wasn't surprised that it was now in Caroline's possession.
Although, it now looked like she was giving it back and Rebekah frowned when she noticed the name on the envelope. 'Klaus' was written across it and the blonde Original itched to find out what was in it, even though she would never open it. She had learned not to cross her brother when it came to Caroline, which made her all the more surprised by the lack of consequences after she had attacked Caroline just yesterday morning.
"I'm sorry, is there something I can help you with?" Caroline's voice suddenly sounded behind her and Rebekah spun around to see the other blonde lean against the door frame to the bathroom in only her underwear. Her hair was damp from the shower she had probably just taken and Rebekah noticed how she looked paler than usual.
"Actually yes. I need you to stay in town." Rebekah replied as she sat down on Caroline's bed, unfazed by the glare she was receiving.
"You're kidding me, right?" Caroline laughed as she moved into the room, not caring about her undressed state. There was a hoarse sound in her laugh that Rebekah hadn't heard before and she watched Caroline with a frown as the blonde cleared her throat with an ill-hidden pained expression on her face.
"I don't joke about such things, Caroline. I'm an Original and I never beg, especially not silly baby vampires like you, but you can't leave. Not yet." Rebekah told her and did her best to make her plea sound like an order, not quite succeeding.
"Why? Are you going to miss me?" Caroline mocked as she found a hair brush to calm through her wet curls.
"No. But my bastard of a brother is too stubborn to admit that he will. Trust me, I've tried to ignore the puppy dog eyes he keeps sending you because they make me want to gag, but I can't any longer. And I can't just let you waltz into town and ruin everything just to leave without a trace. You're going to fix the mess you made of my brother." Rebekah informed her and stood up to meet the other blonde's gaze.
"I don't know if you've become deaf on your older days, Rebekah, but as you might have heard earlier, Klaus wants nothing to do with me. And I feel the same way. Even if he did, why are you here and not him?" Caroline asked with her arms crossed in front of her and a raised eyebrow. There was a small movement of her chest and her arms tensed around her as she tried to hold in a cough.
"Because my brother is an idiot. And it always seems to get worse when he's around you. But that idiot is also different from the man I've lived by for the last millennium. He's forgiving, genuine and he's human. And if you think I'm just going to let you run off and take that with you, you're severely mistaken." the Original said as she moved closer to Caroline, watching her carefully as the blonde tried to hide another cough.
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but if you think that I'm just going to let myself be treated as some kind of tool then you're the one who's mistaken. I'm not here to ease your brother's man pain and to be his 'redemption' or whatever you call it. I'm a person and not some puzzle piece that you get to move around as you see fit. If Klaus wants me to stay then he damn well better come here and apologize himself! And then maybe I'll consider not getting the hell out of this place!" Caroline retorted and her voice quickly rose to a hoarse yell before a coughing fit cut her off.
There was something about Caroline's state that suddenly frightened Rebekah and she couldn't help but feel that something was terribly wrong. She took a step forward with an raised arm as Caroline doubled over in an attempt to ease the pain in her lungs, but the other blonde quickly took a step backwards and straightened up to look at Rebekah with a stoic expression on her face.
"Leave, Rebekah. And find someone else to save your brother." Caroline then said with a hoarse voice and turned her back on the Original to return to the bathroom. Rebekah was in front of her the next second and spun Caroline around so quickly that the blonde almost lost her balance.
"What happened to your back?" Rebekah asked as she looked at the puncture mark on her right shoulder blade and she felt a strange worry overwhelm her. Caroline was trying to turn back around, but Rebekah held her in place with a firm grip on her left shoulder.
"Someone tried to inject me with vervain or something like that. It's nothing. I'm sure it'll heal soon." Caroline replied with a small shrug of her shoulders, but Rebekah still held her in place as she noticed how the blonde's back seemed riddled with scars that shouldn't be there. It almost looked like she had been in a gun fight and for some reason the wounds weren't healing properly.
"It doesn't look like nothing." Rebekah retorted as she placed a feather-light touch on one of the scars, making Caroline tense in response.
"I might have been in a small fight against eight others. But it's been like an hour so I'm just a little slow at healing, nothing more." Caroline replied when she finally managed to move out of Rebekah's grip and turned around to face her. Rebekah raised her eyebrows in surprise over Caroline's revelation but she didn't miss the worried tone that had snuck into Caroline's voice.
"With whom?" she asked curiously, both intrigued and wary of Caroline's reply.
"Most of them are dead so you don't have to worry. Just tell Klaus to look for vampires with missing fingers. Call it a goodbye present from me." the blonde replied as she stepped over to her bag and searched it for something to wear. Once again, Rebekah couldn't help frown at Caroline. Something was off and Rebekah almost felt frightened by the sinister tone in her voice.
Rebekah didn't have time to respond as Caroline suddenly froze and the whole of her body seemed to tremble as she held back another cough. Rebekah rushed to her side just as the blonde couldn't hold it anymore and the Original was shocked by the painful tears in Caroline's eyes as she coughed violently with a hand over her mouth.
"Caroline?" Rebekah questioned carefully when the blonde became still and they stared at each other in shock as Caroline removed her hand to reveal that it was covered in blood.
"Bekah?" Caroline croaked helplessly and a tear escaped her eye as fear overtook her just before another coughing fit made her fall to the floor. Rebekah stared with wide eyes as Caroline crumbled on the floor in pain, unable to comprehend what was happening, but her mind cleared as soon as she saw the blood Caroline kept spitting out.
"JOSH!" Rebekah bellowed, wishing for the vampire's own good that he was still outside keeping watch, and fell to her knees beside Caroline, when mentioned vampire flew through the open balcony doors, closing them behind him.
"What? What is happening?!" Josh asked with a panicked voice and took one look at Caroline before placing a hand over his eyes.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Rebekah almost screamed at him and Josh peeked back at her through his fingers, making sure not to look at Caroline.
"She's not dressed! It's rude!" Josh exclaimed with a fearful voice, not sure what was going on with half-naked blonde on the floor.
"You're gay! Now open your damn eyes before I rip them out and find a pair of shorts and a shirt in her bag!" Rebekah yelled at him and turned her attention back to Caroline, who was whimpering in pain and almost passed out from the struggle.
"Right." Josh quickly and rushed over to Caroline's bag, where he found a pair of beige khaki shorts and a loose black top. In the meanwhile Rebekah had pulled out her phone to call Nik, who still wasn't answering. She didn't even take a moment to curse him into hell before she found the next number on her list.
"Elijah!" she exclaimed as soon as her brother picked up and she could almost feel him tense at urgent sound of her voice.
"Rebekah, what's wrong?"
"It's Caroline. Something's wrong and she's coughing up blood. I need you to prepare the others. I'm taking her to the house with Josh. And call Nik until you reach him." Rebekah quickly said and hung up after a short confirmation from her brother.
It wasn't easy getting Caroline in her clothes as she kept bending forwards in pain and Rebekah barely noticed how her own shirt got stained with blood as the blonde's condition worsened. Still it took them no more than a minute to get Caroline dressed and Josh quickly swooped her into his arms to follow Rebekah back to the Mikaelson home.
The front door swung open before Rebekah had a chance to even touch it and they were greeted by Stefan and Elijah. Stefan was looking at his best friend with panic in his eyes and he quickly pulled Caroline from Josh's arms into his own as she continued to spit out blood. Under other circumstances, Rebekah might have felt irritated by Stefan's actions, but now she quickly moved over to her older brother, whose calm façade had cracked as he watched Caroline with worry.
"Where's Nik?" she asked hurriedly and Elijah tore his eyes from Caroline to look at her with a dejected expression on his face.
"I haven't been able to reach him." he answered and Rebekah suddenly felt like punching something. Or someone.
"Call Bonnie and tell her to bring Davina with her." Rebekah continued without missing a beat, receiving a puzzled look from Elijah, who wasn't used to seeing his sister take charge this way.
"They're on their way already." Elijah informed her and received a quick nod from his sister, who seemed to be contemplating their next step.
"Josh, you go find Colin. We might need his medical skills. And I'll go find Niklaus." Rebekah ordered, already on her way out of the door. They all stopped, when Caroline started trashing in Stefan's arms and something that sounded like protests escaped her.
"Care, we need Klaus." Stefan told her insistently, but it didn't seem to calm her and he shared a look with Rebekah before nodding; telling her to leave.
"Find her a place to lie down. Take one of the guest rooms or Nik's bed if necessary. I'll be back in five minutes." Rebekah told them, disappearing before she could hear any of their objections or answers.
Rebekah stood in front of the bar on Bourbon Street a minute later and quickly walked in to find about ten guests and her brother, who was sitting at the bar and talking to Camille. The kidnapping clearly hadn't shaken her much and Rebekah wondered how much pain Caroline had gone through to protect the blonde bartender.
Rebekah was behind the bar before anyone could stop her and groaning protests were heard through the room when the music stopped. Until the vampires saw who had cut the party short, that is. It was still early in the evening so it was just the night's first nightwalkers that occupied the bar. Most humans knew to stay away from the place and even the tourists didn't go out to drink this early.
"Leave now." Rebekah told the vampires and for a moment nothing happened as they all looked to their king, who was ignoring both his sister and the vampires. Camille was staring at the Original blonde as well and then looked back at Klaus, who was more interested in his drink.
"I'm going to count to three and if you're not gone by then, I am going to rip off your heads, one by one." Rebekah threatened and the vampires looked hesitantly at each other, when they found no help from Klaus. "1, 2-"
The bar had emptied before Rebekah could say three and she immediately turned to her brother, who was now looking at her irritatingly. Camille was still standing behind the bar, but looked away when Rebekah glared at her as she moved around the bar to stand beside Nik.
"What a slob you are, Bekah. I thought you knew better than to wear your food." Niklaus drawled as he emptied his glass and motioned for Camille to refill it. Rebekah could hear the slur in his voice and grabbed the filled glass before he could take it, throwing it into a wall so it broke into hundredth of pieces.
"Actually, this is Caroline's blood." Rebekah replied casually as she sat down beside her brother, watching him carefully and noticing with a smile how his body tensed at her words even though his face remained expressionless.
"Got into a fight, did we?" he asked nonchalantly and Rebekah's smile fell at his stubbornness. Was he really going to keep pretending that he didn't care?
"No, but apparently Caroline did. She was riddled with bullet holes when I found her. And now she's practically vomiting blood. Not a pretty sight." Rebekah said as she turned towards him and propped an elbow on the table, leaning her temple against her closed fist while she looked at him.
"What?!" Nik suddenly roared and rose from the seat so quickly that the barstool fell over. Rebekah to hide a smile as he grabbed her arm tightly, forcing her to stand up as well. "Where is she?"
"At the house. Bonnie and Davina are on their way, Josh has gone after Colin, and Elijah and Stefan got Caroline. I think Kol is with Henrik." she quickly told him and her blonde hair blew in the gush of wind as Nik sped away from there.
Rebekah shot a quick glance at Camille, who was looking at the spot where Nik had just been and sent her a smile. She then walked behind the bar again and started the music before strolling towards the exit.
"What is going on?" Camille called after her just as she was about to leave and Rebekah took a few steps back towards the bartender while sending her a condescending smile.
"Not that it concerns you, but Caroline is in trouble." she replied before turning around once more to leave.
"I don't understand. He just spent the last two hours complaining about her. And now he runs after her because she's sick?" Camille questioned and Rebekah rolled her eyes at the bartender's clingy ways. She had always found the Caroline clone ridiculous, but this cemented it.
"What you need to understand, Cami, is that these feelings you have for my brother are pathetic and if it wasn't obvious: unreciprocated. You have been nothing but a blonde distraction and even that was perfected by someone else long before Nik even laid his eyes on you." Rebekah told the blonde bartender as she strode back towards the bar, making Camille take a small step back. She then opened her mouth to protest, but Rebekah quickly cut her off.
"Let me give you a bit of advice before you get your knickers in a twist. Forget about my brother. He's an idiot and will never love you. No matter how much you and I fight it, it will always be Caroline. Nothing we do is going to prevent that. So do yourself a favor and stay out of it. I wish I could." the Original said as she leaned over the bar leisurely, staring at the offended bartender. She rolled her eyes at the expression on Camille's face and ran out of there before the other blonde even had time to open her mouth.
There were suddenly so many people around Caroline that if she hadn't already been sitting, she felt like she would have fainted. She couldn't really see them but she could hear them and feel them. If she could've talked she would have told them all to leave but every time she opened her mouth she coughed up more blood.
She could hear Bonnie from beside her on the bed talking with another woman with an urgent voice, but couldn't register their words. Stefan was sitting in front of her with a bucket that she was spitting blood into while he tried to give her water, only for her to throw it up. A man, she guessed to be Elijah, was sitting beside her with a wet cloth against her forehead and holding her in place every time another coughing fit shook her body.
The room then seemed to fall silent for a long moment, but Caroline didn't understand why until she suddenly felt his hand against her cheek and for a moment she felt calmer. She wasn't supposed to be comforted by his presence, not after everything that had happened between them just a few hours earlier, but for some reason she found a moment of peace with his touch.
His words got jumbled in her ears as he asked to her condition and yelled at everyone as he got no answers. She didn't register Rebekah's arrival before her shirt suddenly was torn off her, followed by a growl from the hybrid and a sneer from the blonde Original.
Caroline shivered when she felt how calloused fingers glided over the skin of her back, but the pain in her lungs was too overwhelming for her to notice the searing pain that spread through her veins as someone touched the puncture mark on her shoulder. More words were exchanged and if she could, she would have yelped in surprise when she was suddenly pulled backwards and into someone's embrace.
Caroline's fangs instinctively dug into the wrist that was presented to her and it took her no more than a second to recognize the taste of him. She sighed in content when she felt his blood fill her system, only to push him away the next moment.
She was drowning. She couldn't breathe and the blood was suddenly clotting her throat. Her eyes opened in shock as she suddenly leaned for over and vomited twice as much blood as she had just swallowed. She then took a deep breath, feeling the air fill her lungs only to start coughing again.
She ignored their frantic chatter, the soothing hand on her back and his yelling until she heard his name again.
"He should be here soon." Rebekah replied to her brother's inquiry about Colin. She didn't understand why Josh was taking so long to get the vampire, but didn't have time to think about it further when Caroline suddenly managed to push away the bucket in front of her; looking ready to leave.
Stefan was quick to grab the bucket before it tipped over and Nik pulled Caroline back on the bed with an arm around her waist while Rebekah and Elijah watched in concern. Davina and Bonnie had disappeared in the hopes of finding answers somewhere else, but the room filled again as Colin and Josh finally made their presence known.
Rebekah's eyes were trained on Colin as he entered the room with Josh behind him and a large bag in his hand. It always reminded her of the old family doctors she'd seen more than a hundred years ago, who visited patients in their homes. The former medicine student had quickly earned himself a place as a day walker, when he had patched up Henrik's scraped knee without flinching a couple of years earlier.
As Rebekah took in the state of him, she couldn't help but think that something was off. The normally over-confident vampire looked almost nervous and she wasn't sure it was only due to the severity of the situation. He also looked pale and she noticed how he clenched both his fists, which were already covered by latex gloves.
Rebekah's attention turned back to Caroline, who was fighting against Nik's hold on her as her mouth opened in silent protests. Nik was sitting beside her, almost pulling Caroline onto his lap when Colin moved closer to examine her.
"Shhh, it's okay. You're safe, love." Nik whispered to her as she shied away from Colin and further into Nik's embrace. His reassurances didn't seem to help though and Rebekah noticed how the desperation in Caroline's eyes grew. The Original almost jumped when Caroline's tearful eyes met hers and she absentmindedly took a step closer to the bed in an attempt to understand what the other blonde was telling her.
It wasn't until Caroline's eyes returned to Colin and Rebekah followed her gaze to his left hand that the Original understood and without a moment's thought, she grabbed Colin by the throat and threw him across the room so he landed as far away from Caroline as possible.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Nik screamed at her and both Elijah and Stefan stepped closer, only to stop at her hand gesture. Rebekah's full attention was at Colin, who was back on his feet with a shaken look in his eyes. She couldn't help but tilt her head a little and smile at him, letting him know that she knew his dirty little secret.
"I have an idea. Let's sing the finger family song. Henrik always loved that when he was younger. But you know that already, don't you?" Rebekah mused, her voice turning into a sneer when she realized how much time Colin had actually spent with her nephew.
"Rebekah." Elijah's stern voice sounded from behind her, but all she did was shake her head and sent a sideways glance at Caroline, who despite the coughing was calm in Nik's arms as she watched with wide eyes.
"How is it now? That's right! We have daddy finger." Rebekah started and grabbed Colin's left hand before he could skip away, pulling out his thumb from the clenched fist. She shot him a malicious smile as she pried open the next finger, making fear and anger blaze in his eyes. "And mommy finger."
"But oops, where's brother finger?" Rebekah questioned innocently as she held up an empty latex finger, letting go off Colin's wrist as she turned around to look the others. "I must admit, Caroline, that this little trick impressed me."
Before anyone had time to respond, Josh crashed against the wall outside in the hall as Colin pushed him out of the doorway to escape the room. Stefan was looking at Rebekah in total confusion, while Nik was busy with Caroline who was coughing blood onto the sheets and him. Rebekah shared a look with her oldest brother, who calmly pulled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and gave her a small nod.
"Allow me." Elijah said before disappearing in a blur, leaving the remaining three vampires to take care of Caroline, while Josh got to his senses once more.
"Nik, I need you to trust me and let me help, because I think I know what's wrong." Rebekah then said with an urgent voice as she moved to stand beside the bed, taking Elijah's place. She was already stepping out of her heels and ridding herself of her blood-stained blazer while she looked at her brother with pleading eyes.
"And what is that?" he asked with a detached voice as he laid Caroline back on the bed, where she seemed more comfortable. He was clearly trying to distance himself from the situation and Rebekah wondered how much anger and worry her brother was capable of withholding at the same time.
"Caroline isn't healing properly because of the small amount of werewolf venom that was injected into her shoulder, but she can't hold down your blood because her lungs are already filled with blood from whatever wounds she sustained when someone shot her. She's practically drowning and the only way to stop that is for her to heal from the venom, but she can't do that because she's drowning." she explained quickly, hoping that her brother would trust her intuition.
"Do whatever you must, Rebekah. And quickly." her brother responded after a short pause and she quickly dug into Colin's bag after offering him a small smile. In the meantime, Caroline's breathing had become more strained and her blue eyes empty because of the pain, making everyone impatient for Rebekah to get started.
"Caroline, do you trust me?" Rebekah asked as she continued to search through the bag, hoping that it was well enough equipped. A wide smile spread on her lips as she found what she needed and she quickly turned to look at Caroline, who was nodding at her.
"Good, because this is gonna hurt." she told with an apologetic voice and Rebekah watched how their eyes widened at the sight of the scalpel in her one hand and the tube in the other.
"I need to drain her lungs, so I have to cut through and then insert the tube. Anesthetics won't affect her and we need to keep her awake to know if this works. I have to go in from the back so we have to make her sit and then I need you to hold onto her, Nik. If she moves it will only be more painful. Stefan, you're going to take the tube and push it through after I've made the cut." Rebekah quickly instructed and ignored the dumbstruck look on her brother's face as he watched her take charge.
She and Stefan then watched in silence as Nik moved to sit with his back against the headboard before he gently pulled Caroline to sit sideways on his lap with her back towards Rebekah. One arm secured a tight grip around her waist while the other hand was wrapped around Caroline's wrists, holding her tightly in place against his chest.
They all collectively took a deep breath before Rebekah moved forward and placed the scalpel against Caroline's skin, calculating where to cut precisely. Stefan sat beside her with one end of the chest tube in his hand and the other in the bucket on the floor.
Rebekah shared a quick look with her brother and gave him a small nod, making Niklaus tense his muscles before Rebekah cut into Caroline. A hoarse scream came from Caroline as Rebekah quickly made the cut and Stefan jammed the tube into her. The blood flowed from the left lung easily and Caroline was almost inhumanly still, worrying Rebekah more than she expected; the blonde baby vampire was too good to endure the pain.
The blood ran through the tube for less than half a minute before Rebekah pulled it out, ordering Nik to feed Caroline his blood. They all sat in tense silence as Caroline fed from him and Rebekah almost held her breath when Caroline pulled away, but this time it stayed down. Which also meant that they wouldn't have to drain the other lung as well as Caroline now should be able to heal herself.
As the blonde slowly started breathing normally and stopped coughing, Rebekah felt like laughing in relief and she shared a smile with both Stefan and her brother. After almost a minute of stunned silence, Rebekah decided that it was time to leave the room and sent Stefan a pointed glare, which he quickly caught as he gathered the bucket and Colin's things to take with them.
After picking up her heels and blazer, Rebekah followed Stefan out of the bedroom and down the hall. She met Stefan's gaze for a short moment and almost blushed when she saw the smile he was sending her, making her curse herself for always falling for it.
Her eyes widened when she suddenly registered Colin's pleas from the entrance hall and a sadistic smile spread on her lips as she imagined all the ways she could possibly pick him apart in the most painful way.
"Rebekah." Nik's voice sounded behind her and she turned around in surprise to see her brother stand outside his bedroom door in a bloodied Henley. She didn't notice that Stefan continued walking as she took a few steps back towards Nik, sending him an almost shy smile.
They stared at each other for a long moment and Rebekah could see the inner turmoil in her brother's eyes as he tried to find the right words.
"How did you know about Colin?" he finally asked and Rebekah almost sighed dejectedly as a 'thank you' of course was too much to ask for from Niklaus Mikaelson.
"I paid Caroline a little visit at her hotel and she told me about a little goodbye present that she left for you. She said most of those she had fought against were dead but others were missing a finger. I noticed Caroline's unwillingness towards Colin and then noticed the missing link." Rebekah shrugged and waved her fingers in the air in demonstration.
"You visited Caroline?" her brother questioned and she didn't miss the suspicious tone in his voice.
"Yes, I was trying to convince her to stay, if you must know." Rebekah replied with a roll of her eyes, but froze when Nik suddenly reached out and placed a hand against her cheek. A smile spread on her lips as he leaned forwards and planted a kiss on her forehead before meeting her gaze once more.
"Thank you." Nik said with a low voice and sent her a grateful smile, leaving a stunned Rebekah in the hall as he returned to Caroline.
Maybe having Caroline Forbes around wouldn't be so bad after all.
Team Barbie and Rebekah ftw! The writers of the show always underestimate her and forget that she is a thousand years old despite acting like a 18 year old sometimes.
Hope you liked the chapter! Tell me what you think:D Maybe you're pissed like that one guest. Then I would love to hear why;)