Chapter Five
'It's time, my lovelies,' Klaus said as he stepped forward, coming to a stop in front of the circle that held Elena and me. He had his arms outstretched as if he was about to take a bow.
I frowned in confusion as I looked to the end circle; it was still empty.
'Don't you need a werewolf?' I asked.
He met my eyes as a smile played on his lips, he didn't answer but he did hold his hand out to his right, gesturing in that direction. Not a moment later, the witch that had attacked me in the hospital parking lot came forward pulling a chain behind him, attached to that chain was a woman, groaning in pain. I assumed that someone had cast a spell to slow down her transformation, because she should have been a full wolf by now.
'Ah, Maddox, glad you could finally join the party mate,' Klaus said.
Maddox only nodded in answer as he dropped the flames on the circle beside James before he shoved the werewolf inside, raising the flames once again. She didn't look familiar to me, but I couldn't help but wince every time she groaned out in pain. I wished that there was something I could have done for her, but honestly she didn't look very aware of anything other than her pain in that moment. I gave her a sympathetic glance and a soft smile, which she returned briefly before she fell to her knees screaming again. I held Elena closer, in that moment grateful that she tended to be a heavy sleeper.
Klaus spoke with his female witch at the alter for a moment before she began chanting. Maddox stood with his hands overlapping one another as he faced the circles, his gaze hard. I realised that he was making sure none of us stepped out of line or tried to escape. Klaus made his way forward, in the werewolf's direction, his smile widening as the flames dropped from around her.
Her gaze snapped to mine almost urgently, 'I was trying to help Tyler. Please understand. I was only trying to help Tyler,' She said, confusing me. I had no idea who she was, but she obviously knew my friend.
'I'll tell him,' I said giving her a soft smile, she looked relieved and I was glad her eyes stayed on mine rather than looking in Klaus' direction as he suddenly rushed forward and plunged his hand in her chest, ripping out her heart. It happened so fast that her eyes didn't hint to any flicker of pain or suffering, which I was grateful for, even if I was never going to be able to un-see what just happened. I felt a tear run down my face as I turned my head so that I was once again facing forward, I bit my lip to keep myself from sobbing. They were just innocent people; none of them deserved this.
Klaus walked back to the alter, squeezing the blood from the heart in his hand over a small circular bowl that sat in the centre of the table. The woman placed a circular white stone, which I assumed was the moonstone, into the bowl never ceasing her chanting. Something must have happened because Klaus suddenly asked, 'does that mean it's working?' Klaus asked and I swore I could hear carefully concealed excitement in his voice.
'It's working,' the witch confirmed as she continued.
Klaus smiled as he placed the heart in the bowl and picked up a wooden stake from the ground, making his way to the circle that held the vampire. I looked towards James and was glad to see that his gaze was just as emotionless as it had been for most of the night, and even when the flames that were holding him to the circle disappeared, he slowly stood without an ounce of fear. Klaus smirked and wasted no time in lunging forward and plunging the stake into his chest. He gasped in surprise and fell to his knees, thick veins appearing as his skin turned grey. He pulled his heart from his chest walked back to the witch, placing it in one of the dishes on the table. She chanted and then lifted the container; the heart had liquefied as she tipped the blood into the larger bowl that the moonstone and the werewolf's heart had been placed into. I knew the next step was going to be drinking the blood of the doppelgänger and I had to force down my panic. I looked down to Elena, gently brushing the hair that was covering her face behind her ear. I took a deep breath, controlling my expression so that she wouldn't be able to see my fear.
'Lena? Sweetie you need to wake up,' I said my voice soft as I shook her shoulder gently.
She groaned a little before she opened her eyes, she blinked a few times and for a few beautiful seconds she seemed to have forgotten where she was and what was about to happen. But then reality appeared to hit her like a brick wall, and I watched fear appear in her expression before she hid it; to Klaus she would look indifferent but I could still see the fear in her eyes as plain as day.
'Hey, it's okay. If there's anytime to be afraid it's when your about to be used as a sacrifice,' I said trying to make a joke.
The fear in her eyes seemed to soften slightly as she smiled a small, but genuine smile.
The flames disappeared from around us and Elena stood and offered her hand to me to help me up. I took it and stood, when I was standing though I didn't release my grip, I took her hand and intertwined our fingers. I made sure to contort my body so that if she were to glance my way she wouldn't catch sight of the two dead bodies to our left.
'Ladies…' Klaus said, holding out his arm towards the alter, gesturing for us to walk first.
We did and exactly twelve steps later we were stood opposite the witch as she chanted.
'It's going to be okay,' I whispered squeezing her hand in comfort. She gave me a shaky smile in response but flinched when she felt Klaus bushing the hair away from the right ride of her neck. I quickly stood in front of her, close enough to assure that I blocked her view of the witch and the alter, 'hey look at me. Just keep looking at me.' I said squeezing the hand I was still holding as I reached forward and grabbed her free hand to do the same. Her eyes stayed on mine, and I made sure that my gaze was as comforting as it could be as I gave her a soft smile. Amazingly, the fear in her eyes disappeared as she stared back at me, I had no idea how but I wasn't going to question it. Her gaze remained calm even as Klaus lent down, his vampire face coming forward, and bit into her neck. Him drinking from her seemed to last forever as I kept my eyes on Elena's, I noticed that she seemed to be struggling to keep them open, so I stepped forward, my body only an inch from hers as I placed my hands on her waist, prepared to catch her when she fell. It was scary how quickly the change happened; one moment she was staring straight into my eyes, giving me a soft smile, and then all of a sudden her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped forward. I tried to hold her up, but I couldn't support all of her weight, so I softly placed her on the ground. I shrugged off my jacket and placed it gently under her head. I knew that she was going to be okay, but in that moment she was dead and I couldn't stop the tears that cascaded down my cheeks as I stared at my little sisters face, willing her to open her eyes. I took her left hand in mine; not taking my eyes off her face, as if me staring for long enough would make the elixir take effect quicker. I knew it wouldn't; Elijah had said that Elena would be dead for at least an hour before she would be resuscitated.
I could feel eyes on me and I reluctantly looked up to see Klaus looking almost remorseful as he observed the tears that wouldn't stop falling from my eyes. He opened his mouth as if he was about to talk but all of a sudden there was a deadening crack. He looked down to his arms in astonishment as he watched his bones breaking.
'It's happening!' He said.
Klaus suddenly fell to his knees clutching his head as he yelled in pain; I looked over my shoulder to see Bonnie walking forward a hand held in front of her as she chanted underneath her breath. I heard a crash coming from in front of me and whipped my head in that direction to see Damon snapping the witch's neck, I opened my mouth to warn him about Maddox but closed it again when my eyes fell to his dead body roughly ten feet away. Damon looked over to me, his expression concerned as he saw the tears on my cheeks. I didn't even bother to wipe them away; someone seeing me cry was normally something I couldn't stand, but in that moment I was numb and I knew I would be until Elena opened her eyes again.
He kneeled down on the other side of Elena, his eyes seeming to ask permission to pick her up, I didn't know why he was asking, but I gave him a reassuring nod anyway. I reluctantly let go of her hand as Damon led her away, he looked back to me, wondering why I wasn't following, but I just shook my head. He turned away without question and took Elena to safety. I looked over to where Klaus was still crouching to the ground, his hands to his head, as he tried to threaten Bonnie in between his yells of pain. The wind whipped around us, blowing the leaves everywhere as well as some of the loose grass and the debris from the carnage caused by the fire that had been holding us. All of a sudden everything stopped. The wind settled and the leaves, grass and debris fell to the ground. Klaus' yells of pain ceased. I walked forward knowing that when he got his bearings he was going to attack Bonnie. I managed to get in front of her just as he charged, he stumbled when he realized it was me and not Bonnie, which was enough of a distraction for Elijah to rush forward and plunge his hand into his chest. Klaus gasped, both from surprise at seeing Elijah and horror when he realized Elijah was holding his hand in his heart. I didn't feel fear for Klaus' life in that moment and I knew that he wasn't going to die. Stefan stood just behind Elijah impatiently waiting for him to end Klaus' life.
'In the name of our family, Niklaus...' Elijah said as he braced himself to pull out the heart he held in his hand.
'I didn't bury them at sea!' Klaus exclaimed, panic and desperation in his voice.
'He's telling the truth,' I mumbled without even thinking causing Elijah and Stefan's heads to whip in my direction, Klaus however, kept his eyes on Elijah's face trying to read his expression. Before I could say anything to the vampire's staring at me, Bonnie moved forward from behind me.
'Elijah! Don't listen to him.' Bonnie shouts her voice both pleading and desperate.
'If you kill me you'll never find them,' Klaus said, 'Elijah. I can take you to them. I give you my word...brother.'
'Do it and I'll take you both out,' Bonnie warned.
'You'll die,' Elijah replied.
'I don't care,' Bonnie muttered.
I shook my head, already knowing what he was going to do.
'I'm sorry,' Elijah apologized and in a flash him and Klaus were gone.
'No!' Stefan and Bonnie shouted in unison.
I was unable to generate any kind of reaction. All I could think about was getting to Elena before she woke up. I patiently waited for Bonnie and Stefan to calm down before I asked to be taken to Elena, I knew I was going to get there before she woke up, but that didn't make me any less anxious. It only took a fifteen-minute drive to get us to the witch burial ground, and as soon as the car came to a stop I threw my car door open and ran into the house. Elena had been laid down on an ancient looking couch in the middle of what was probably the living room, when the house wasn't withered like it currently was. Damon was stood behind the right arm, where her head was, looking down at her, his eyes pleading. Jeremy was stood in the corner as if he needed some distance from the whole situation, but his eyes were firmly rested on Elena. I fell to my knees at her side taking her left hand in my right, and nearly had a heart attack when she shot up gasping for air as soon as I touched her.
'Bloody hell,' I muttered my free hand on chest trying to calm my heart beat as I met Elena's eyes, 'that was very dramatic,' I teased trying to lighten the mood.
She laughed, her eyes filling with tears as she hugged me, I wasn't prepared for the force behind it and I fell backwards taking her down with me. We both laughed, as we pulled apart; I stood up first and offered her a hand to help her up.
'I'm alive,' Elena said her grin lighting up her face.
'You're alive,' I assured her, my own grin mirroring hers.
Elena went around to everyone giving each of them a hug in reassurance; I didn't blame her- Stefan, Damon and Bonnie had seen her dead so it was understandable that they needed physical reassurance. We caught Elena up on everything that happened after she temporarily died, and she looked a little disappointed that Klaus was still alive, but she seemed to understand Elijah saving his brother; he deserved to know where his family was.
'I'm sure Klaus will leave Mystic Falls now that he's gotten what he wanted, but in the mean time, we need to make sure that he doesn't find out that you're still alive,' Damon said, his tone leaving no room for argument.
'That's if Elijah hasn't already told him about the elixir,' Stefan said causing everyone's eyes to flicker over to me, I shook my head in response. The feeling of calm in my gut told me he hadn't told him and he wouldn't.
'Right well… does that mean I'm under house arrest?' Elena joked.
'Yes.' Damon replied, completely serious.
'You guys should stay at the boarding house until we know he's gone. The deed is still in your name and we can protect you there,' Stefan said.
'All of us?' Elena asked, looking to me, Bonnie and Jeremy.
'Nah I think it would be suspicious if I just suddenly moved into the boarding house after the sacrifice. Klaus will figure out something's up. I'll stay at home with Bonnie,' Jeremy said.
Bonnie raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking over to Jeremy.
'I mean- if- if you want to…' Jeremy stuttered, his cheeks turning a little pink.
I leaned over in his direction, 'smooth,' I murmured, sending him a wink.
Damon sniggered and Jeremy glared at me.
''I'd like that.' Bonnie said, smiling over at Jeremy, the way they looked at each other made me feel like I was interrupting on a private moment.
'Okay then you should probably head over to the boarding house so everyone else can see that you're okay,' I said looking to Elena and she nodded.
'I can't believe we've actually all made it out of this alive,' Elena said, happiness radiating from her as she made her way to the door, but as those words left her mouth I suddenly felt dizzy and had to reach out and hold onto the nearest person, who turned out to be Stefan.
'Hey are you alright?' He asked, looking worried.
'I don't know,' I answered honestly looking around at the remaining people in the room; Bonnie was still here and I gave her a reassuring smile when I met her worried gaze before my eyes flickered over to Damon. When I met his eyes I knew. There was something wrong with him. As the realization grew in my eyes, he gave me a look of warning. He didn't want anyone to know, I responded by nodding my head discretely as I released my grip on Stefan's forearm.
'Hey, Damon would you mind taking me back to my house to pack some clothes? If I'm staying at the boarding house until further notice I cant keep borrowing Elena's,' I said forcing a chuckle.
Damon opened his mouth to reply but before he could, Stefan cut in.
'If you're going to do that, we should switch cars. There's no way everyone else is going to fit into my car,' He said holding his keys out to Damon. Damon looked absolutely horrified at the thought of his brother driving his car; I would have laughed if I hadn't been holding my breath waiting for his response. He met my eyes, and he must have seen the warning in them, because with a sigh he pulled his keys from his back pocket and placed them in Stefan's empty hand, taking Stefan's keys from his outstretched hand.
'Be careful with her,' Damon warned, glaring at his brother. This time couldn't suppress my snort of amusement at his obvious protectiveness of his car; Stefan smiled, and he looked like he was trying really hard to stifle his laugh.
'Wow. I didn't know Damon was protective of anything that wasn't Elena,' Bonnie teased.
Damon glared at her, before he moved his eyes back to Stefan, 'I'm serious brother. She better not have a scratch.' He said.
'She?' Bonnie asked, even more amused. Damon just rolled his eyes and sighed grabbing my wrist and pulling me behind him as he made his way towards Stefan's car. We didn't say a word to each other until the car was in park in front of my house.
'What happened?' I asked, looking him over, trying to find evidence of physical injury, but when I didn't see any, my gaze moved back to the side of his face. He was staring straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought, and for a moment I could see how terrified he was before his mask of arrogance was back in place. He turned to face me, smirking.
'Nothing. Don't worry about it,' he said his smirk growing when he finished speaking, but I could tell that it was forced.
'Damon. Tell me what's wrong or I'll call Stefan and tell him that I'm pretty sure you have a high probability of dying in the next few days,' I said, crossing my arms over my chest and raising my eye brow in defiance.
His eyes flickered over my expression as if to determine how serious I was, he must have gathered all he needed, because a moment later he pulled up his jacket sleeve along with his shirt sleeve on his left arm and pushed it towards me for my inspection. The wound was about the size of a dollar coin; it was red and inflamed and it seemed to be pulsing. I wrinkled my nose as the sight of it as I gently pulled his shirtsleeve back down followed by his jacket.
'That doesn't look so good,' I told him honestly.
He rolled his eyes at me before responding, 'it's not supposed to, princess. A werewolf bite is poisonous to vampires, so I'm basically dead.' He muttered, looking straight ahead again; I figured it was because he didn't want me to see how he was really feeling. I put my hand on top of his giving him a reassuring smile when his gaze flickered back to mine.
'You're going to be fine,' I said, my voice firm, 'I don't know how but I promise it's going to be fine. Just hang in there.'
I gave his hand a final squeeze in reassurance and I smiled genuinely when I saw a spark of hope in his eyes. It was so nice to see him having hope that I didn't mention the ball of dread growing in my gut when I thought of what would have to happen in order for him to be cured; I had no clue what it could be but I knew it was going to be bad. I climbed out of the car so that Damon wouldn't have a chance to read the worry in my eyes. He waited in the car while I went inside and packed; I ended up filling a small duffel bag with as many clothes as I could carry. I had a feeling that I was going to need it. I packed my black vans, brown ankle boots and white high-topped converse. Clothes wise I packed a few crop tops, a lot of vest tops, my grey and pink suede jackets along with three pairs of black high waisted shorts and four pairs of black high waisted skinny jeans. I also packed my other necessities: panties, bras, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a shaver, my toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant and perfume. Happy with everything, I made my way back down stairs, locking the front door behind me; I walked over to Stefan's car and opened the boot. My bag barely went in but as long as it fit I didn't care. I slammed the boot shut and climbed into the passenger seat, giving Damon a nod to let him know that I was ready when he was. He started driving without hesitation, and I decided to try and make conversation to assure that his mind was anywhere but his potential death.
'So… how long have you been in love with my little sister?' I asked, trying to sound casual, but I ended up bursting into laughter at Damon's expression; he looked a mixture of shocked, confused and astounded. Which resulted in his eyes widening at an alarming rate and his mouth hanging open wide enough to catch flies. He quickly gathered his composure and glared at me but otherwise said nothing.
'All right I can take a hint. Touchy subject I get it.' I murmured staring out of the window as I tried to think of another direction to steer the conversation, 'you've been around a long time right?' I started, already knowing that he'd been a vampire since 1864.
He looked over at me apprehensively before he nodded.
'What has been your most favorite and least favorite decade and why?' I asked, resting my chin on my fist as I stared at him patiently waiting for his answer.
He looked at my expression and laughed at my eagerness, he quickly composed himself when he noticed me frown and cleared his throat before answering, 'I'm not playing twenty questions with you, princess.'
I sighed in annoyance, 'why not?'
He didn't answer, but he did give me a look, a look that implied he wasn't one to open up about his past, which I could appreciate.
'Fine,' I said, moving my gaze back to the window, mindlessly counting the trees as they passed by. I'd counted sixty-three by the time we'd reached the boarding house, and as soon as the car was in park I jumped out, eager to be with company who weren't against talking.
I laughed a little when I noticed Damon walking around his blue Camaro, inspecting it closely; he either ignored my amusement or didn't notice as he went to make another circuit around the car. I rolled my eyes and walked into the house, only to see Jeremy, Bonnie, Alaric and Jenna all shrugging on their coats as if they were about to leave.
'Where are you going?' I asked.
'Back to the house. We're gonna stay at the house with Jeremy and Bonnie just to be safe,' Jenna said grabbing her car keys off the table, I glanced over to Jeremy and noticed him rolling his eyes in annoyance, I gave him a wink and he just glared. Younger siblings, eh?
'You're leaving now?' I said, turning back to Jenna.
'Yeah we've all been up all night and everyone's exhausted, if we don't go now we'll be dead on our feet soon.' Jenna explained, it was then that she noticed the sadness in my eyes, I quickly covered it up but it was too late; she'd already seen it. I was looking forward to spending time with her; I hadn't really got the chance to be in her company when we had nothing to worry about other than right now. Of course I was worried about Damon, but for now I was the only one who knew about that.
Jenna stepped forward and hugged me, kissing my temple as she pulled away.
'I'm only going to be a fifteen minute drive away, sweetie, and you can come by whenever you like,' she assured me, squeezing my arm in comfort. I gave her a reassuring smile as I nodded and moved to hug Alaric, Bonnie and Jeremy. I kissed Jeremy loudly on the cheek just to mess with him, and was rewarded with him making a show of wiping his cheek as his face reddened in embarrassment.
When they were gone, I looked around, not seeing or hearing anyone so I decided to go in search of Elena. I found her in Stefan's room fast asleep in his bed. Stefan was sat at his desk writing in his journal when I came in, his eyes snapped to mine immediately and I held my finger up to my lips and gestured for him to join me in the hall.
'What's wrong?' Stefan said when we were far enough away from his room to be able to talk without disturbing Elena.
I opened my mouth to reply but the voice that responded to Stefan's question wasn't my own; it was Damon's.
'I believe she's about to tell you how I got bit by a werewolf yesterday.' He said crossing his arms over his chest as he stood in front of Stefan, trying to appear careless. Stefan didn't look fooled as his face contorted in concern.
'What?' Stefan asked.
'I was bitten by a werewolf,' Damon repeated slowly, rolling up his sleeves to show Stefan like he had with me in the car.
Stefan's concern morphed into full-blown panic when he saw the bite on Damon's arm.
'What are we going to do?' Stefan muttered aloud as he ran his fingers through his hair in aggravation.
'Prepare a eulogy?' Damon replied, causing Stefan and myself to glare at him in response to his helpful remark.
Stefan looked into Damon's eyes, determination gleaming as he said, 'I'm going to get you a cure, Damon. I promise you.'
'We promise you,' I affirmed, standing next to Stefan mirroring his gaze.
Damon looked between the two of us and I noticed a glimmer of vulnerability before his mask was back in place, he nodded, not seeming to trust himself to speak before he turned and walked away. Stefan and myself shared a look of understanding before we parted ways. As I made my way to the guest bedroom I was staying in I could feel the ball of led growing in my gut, and I knew that we were going to get the cure, but I was pretty certain, whatever we would have to do to get it was going to be anything but good.
And that concludes chapter five! I'm sorry if you thought this chapter was a little less action filled, but there wasn't really that much I could put in being as this is in Kimberly's P.O.V and she can't be everywhere at once (unfortunately). I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter- I always have fun writing Kimberly and Klaus interactions.
I would like to thank: Shadowednight1, Lloryn, Loveisforever12, Leafpool16985, Pink-appel and Shadow Hermione for either giving my story a favorite or a follow- it means a lot!
"Guest: I like your fiction, it's a very good start! I can not wait to find out what Kim is and her meeting with the other Mikaelsons" Thank you! I'm looking forward to exploring Kim's gifts in the commencing chapters, and I can't wait to reveal what she is to you! I've already been thinking about how Kim would get along with the other Mikaelsons as well and I can't wait to explore the different relationships with each sibling!
"Guest: I love this! I'm excited that's it's set late s2. And your writing is great! There's lots of sister fics but not many that I like. This one has certainly got my attention!"- Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope you continue to follow the story. After reading a few fan fics where the protagonist was Elena and Jeremy's sister, I found it was rare to find someone who was close with Elena as well as Jeremy, and I wanted to rectify that. There hasn't been much of an opportunity for me to demonstrate Kimberly and Jeremy's bond, but that will come. Either way I hope you enjoy!