((Hey all! Thanks for returning! I gotta say that I really enjoyed this week's episode "The Originals". I absolutely adored the character of Marcel, though I have to say I was a little shocked at first because he looks a lot like what I imagined Misha to look like in my head when I created his character (well, except for the fact that Misha is a part-time drag queen, LOL!) And when Klaus walked into that bar in New Orleans and Marcel was singing 'How You Like Me Now?'…oh my God, I had serious flashbacks to Misha dancing in the kitchen to the same song back in Chapter 32 of 'Lies My Brother Told Me'. Well, any who, I'm excited to see how the TVD Season 4 ends! Enjoy this next chapter.))
"He was always so kind and sympathetic toward me when I was human…'stupid, spastic, Caroline'…" Caroline said softly, a tear streaming down her right cheek as she took a seat in the chair beside the bed and took Stefan's hand in hers, biting her trembling lip as she studied it, "And after I turned, he was still there for me—helping me—teaching me to control myself and to believe in myself and embrace my new life, almost like he knew who and what I could be as a vampire before I ever did…" she closed her eyes and smiled sadly as she suddenly felt Klaus' hand on her shoulder, then wiped the tear from her cheek away with her free hand before placing it over the Original's, "I'll miss him."
"It's funny…" Klaus said in quiet tone, "We knew Stefan Salvatore as two completely different people—I knew him as 'The Ripper of Monterrey' and you knew him as an animal blood drinking, sensitive, high school heartthrob—but he ended up helping us both in the same way."
"What do you mean?" Caroline asked as she looked back over her shoulder at Klaus, her wet eyes narrowing in curiosity
Klaus paused for a moment, studying Stefan's still body with reverence before a small smirk crossed his lips.
"Friendship…" Klaus replied, "He gave it to us freely and when we were both completely and utterly alone... and felt like we least deserved it."
# # # # # #
Misha took in a breath as he approached Damon's bedroom door and slowly raised his hand, closing his eyes for a moment to steady himself before opening them again and knocking softly.
The warlock waited, but there was no answer, only silence.
Misha knocked again, then placed his hand flat on against the wood, trying to feel for the vampire's presence behind the door.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing his energies…
His psychic gifts didn't fail him.
Immediately he knew Damon was in there.
Misha opened his eyes and leaned his forehead against the door.
"Damon…" he said softly
When the vampire didn't answer, Misha tried again.
"Damon, its Misha. I need to talk to you… I know it's not the best time and I'm probably the last person you want to see right now, but I need your help. It's about Dominic—"
Misha suddenly stopped talking when he heard footsteps approach the door and pulled back when he saw the doorknob turn and the tired and ash pale face of Damon Salvatore peer around the door when it opened.
Damon narrowed his pale green eyes at the warlock, studying him for a moment before taking a swig from the wine bottle in his hand and smacking his lips together.
"So I take it you've finally noticed that your brother's got us locked up in here like jail bait while he patrols outside."
"How did you know—" Misha interjected, surprised, but Damon just scoffed
"I have a window," the vampire chided in a slurred voice as he opened the door completely and jerked his head toward the bay window on the other side of the room, then sighed, "I had planned on looking out of it in contemplative thought while I wallow in my grief, but every time I do, I just feel more and more like Jimmy Carter during the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis."
Misha wanted to laugh at the comparison, but decided it was best to keep focus as he stepped into the room and Damon closed the door behind them.
"He's been out there for hours…just pacing on the lawn and perching on the garage," Damon said with sad eyes then took another swig from the wine bottle as he took a seat on the end of his unmade bed, "Gotta say...it's kinda creepy.And that's saying alot coming from me."
"Damon," Misha said, swallowing as he took a seat on the bed next to the vampire, "First of all, please believe me when I tell you that…I had no idea that this would happen or that Stefan—" Misha stopped abruptly, taking in a deep breath as he lowered his gaze to his tightly folded hands in his lap, then straightened as he continued softly, "I—I just want you to know that I'm truly sorry. I know what it's like to lose a brother… and, contrary to popular belief, I want you to know that neither Kaspar, nor myself, had a hand in Dominic's return—we are just as surprised as you by it and we want to stop him more than anyone and make this right…" Misha now brought his gaze up to meet Damon's, "But we need your help."
Damon just studied the warlock in silence for a few moments before he closed his eyes in pain and nodded, taking another swig from the bottle before opening his eyes and wiping the tears from them with his free hand as he answered.
"You have it," he whispered, his voice trembling with uncertainty, "W—what do you need?"
Misha nodded. He knew Damon was still angry and hurt, and probably would be for a very long time, but the warlock had to admire him for sucking it up and acknowledging the situation at hand.
"Second, when we arrived, you mentioned Dominic said something before he…" Misha started, but stopped when Damon suddenly winced and closed his eyes in grief at the memory of his brother's death, squeezing the wine bottle in his fist, immediately shattering it.
Misha flinched slightly, but never took his eyes off of Damon as the vampire slowly opened his eyes and looked down to the cut on his hand, left from the broken glass.
Damon studied the injury for a moment then whispered, "I have blood on my hand…"
"It will heal—" Misha tried to reassure Damon
"No," Damon said softly, shaking his head as he cut him off, his eyes mesmerized by the blood, "It will leave a scar…a really big scar…"
Misha closed his eyes as he realized that Damon wasn't talking about his hand, sighing deeply
Suddenly, Damon brought himself out of his trance and returned his gaze to the warlock
"Man må dø, slik at man kan leve…" Damon whispered, "That's what the hunter said before he—before he—he— well…you know…"
"'One must die, so that I may live'…" Misha immediately opened his eyes and turned to Damon, translating the language of his youth instantly in his head as soon as heard the words, "You're sure that is what he said?"
"I'll remember those words for the rest of my undead life…" Damon smirked sadly, looking down at the wound on his palm as it started healing
"Live…" Misha whispered to himself, his eyes narrowing as the realization hit him, "Interesting…it's like he's told us his plan from the beginning. 'One must die so that I may live'...and he's here because of one death—Matt Donovan's. He set the trap in this house with one death—Stefan's—to ensure the death of one original vampire—Elijah…well, that is obvious or else we would all be dead by now—"
"Wait," Damon interjected, "So you're saying that we're bait for Elijah?"
Misha shot him a knowing look and the vampire sighed as he glanced at the window out of the corner of his eye.
"Now it really does feel like 1979…" Damon whispered
"Elijah killed Dominic a thousand years ago after my Mother made him and his twin brother the first vampire hunters, to bring balance to nature and destroy the originals after Esther first turned them," Misha said, knitting his brow in thought, "Dominic wants revenge and he's clever. He knew that once the Originals got wind he was back, it would be game over. So, he sets a trap here and draws us into it. But, when he finds out Elijah isn't in Mystic Falls, he decides to wait and use us to draw him out."
"They always say 'revenge is best served cold'," Damon scoffed softly, "But after a thousand years, his must be frozen solid…"
"Yeah," Misha smirked for a moment, then narrowed his eyes, "However… after what you just told me, I don't think that revenge is all he wants."
"So the plot thickens…" Damon said, genuinely intrigued
"It's the wording he used…" Misha whispered, biting his lip, "Live."
Damon cocked his head and Misha continued, explaining, "A thousand years ago, when my Mother made my brothers hunters, she called on the spirits to do it. But, like the spell Esther cast, the spell my Mother performed, had consequences—side effects of sorts. You see, my brothers became monsters themselves…" Misha eyes saddened as he remembered looking across the fire pit into his younger brothers' lifeless eyes that night in the woods a millennium before when they had tried to kill him, "In the end…they lost their souls… their essences sent out into the spirit realm and replaced with that of demons—demons that could sense other demons…"
"Like vampires…" Damon straightened
"And werewolves," Misha added solemnly
Damon shook his head in disbelief as Misha continued, "And like the vampires and werewolves they were meant to hunt, they had abilities—strength, speed, agility, heightened senses—"
"Oh, I'm aware of his abilities…" Damon interrupted in a knowing whisper then took in a deep breath, "What exactly is your point here?"
"My point is that I think Dominic wants his revenge. But once it's done, he wants to live …he wants to be truly alive—he's had a thousand years on the other side, watching and waiting—he wants to be human again."
"What?" Damon said, taken aback, "He looked pretty alive to me—"
"No…" Misha replied with a raised eyebrow, "He's not alive…not without his soul."
# # # # #
"Damon…" Caroline whispered, catching a glimpse of the older Salvatore brother as she crossed the threshold into the kitchen with Klaus at her side.
"Hey Barbie," he smiled sadly as he pushed himself off of the counter island where he had been leaning and she walked into his embrace.
"I'm so sorry," Caroline said softly into his half-open, rumpled shirt
They held each other for a moment before Damon kissed her hair and whispered a barely audible, "Thanks" and she pulled back, giving him a sympathetic smile before turning to the several pairs of eyes that were now fixed on them, wiping under her eyes as she took in the sight of Kol, Rebekah, Misha and Kaspar all sitting around the kitchen table.
"Well, now that everyone is here…" Misha said as he watched Klaus pull up a chair for Caroline from the breakfast bar, "we can talk about our little predicament."
"'Predicament'?" Klaus scoffed, "That's a tad flip, isn't it? We are trapped in a Victorian mansion by a thousand year-old vampire hunter who wants to keep us as live bait until big brother gets here—at which time said hunter will most likely kill him and then us…or maybe just us…I guess it depends on his mood—"
"Nik…" Rebekah chided, "Will you just stop with the snide comments for ten seconds and listen? We all know the seriousness of the situation and what it means for all of us, but Misha's got something that could change the game."
"And I think that what Caroline and I have discovered may have some usefulness as well," Kaspar interjected
"Very well," Klaus said, rolling his eyes as leaned on the back of Caroline's chair, "What's this 'game changer'."
Misha looked to Damon and the vampire took a deep breath as he stepped forward.
"When Dominic came to the house tonight and…." Damon stopped, closing his eyes, "When he—Okay, long story short, as I mentioned when you all arrived, he gave me a message to give to his brothers…."
"And?" Kol prompted, curiously
Damon opened his mouth to speak, but sensing his overwhelming grief and the sensitivity of the subject, Misha interjected to spare the vampire any further pain
"Man må dø, slik at man kan leve," the warlock repeated in his native tongue
"'One must die so that I may live'…" Rebekah whispered, translating the phrase, then looking around the table at the others.
"Now we know that Dominic returned because Matt Donovan's death—his blood spilled on the sacred ground where Dominic was buried—completed the resurrection spell I was unable to finish a thousand years ago…" Kaspar said, then suddenly looked down, seemingly in shame when the originals gave him knowing glances.
After a moment of silence, the necromancer cleared his throat and continued, "We also know that the 'one life' prophecy in his message was also completed with Stefan's death, which Dominic used to lure us all here to be bait for the one person he truly wants dead…Elijah."
"Ah! We know all this!" Klaus cried, throwing his hands in the air impatiently, "We don't need to decipher this phrase like its 'The DaVinci Code' or something—"
"Just wait, Niklaus," Misha urged, holding up a hand to silence Klaus, "There is a point to this."
Klaus sighed and crossed his arms, giving Kaspar an indignant look as he shut up and let the necromancer continue.
"Live," Kaspar said, keeping his eyes locked on Klaus as he picked up where he let off, "'One must die so that I may live'."
"I'm confused…" Caroline said, narrowing her eyes as she looked around the room, "Dominic is already alive, isn't he?"
"Not necessarily," Rebekah said, sitting forward, "When the witch Ayanna, Misha and Kaspar's mother, turned her sons into vampire hunters to restore balance and kill my siblings and I, she essentially turned them into monsters as well. They were soulless—their heightened senses and abilities bestowed on them by replacing their essences with that of a demon."
"Dominic hasn't been our real—human—brother for a thousand years…" Misha said, looking around the room with sad eyes
"And he wants to live again…" Klaus whispered in sudden realization, locking eyes with Misha, "So he wants his soul back?"
"And thus, we have a bargaining chip," Kaspar added in a resolute voice, sitting back in his chair
"How so?" Kol inquired
"You heard Rebekah," Klaus said, "When Dominic and Luka became hunters, their essences were released into the spirit realm-here in Mystic Falls. He must think that it's still here or that something here holds the key to finding finding it and that's good news for us. We have two very powerful warlocks sitting at this table. We just need to do a spell to-"
"I know what you're thinking, but we can't just call his soul out of the ether, Klaus," Misha said, "It doesn't work that way. There are rules. The spirits-our ancestors-if we try something that dangerous..."
"They might turn on us," Kaspar added, "Besides, there is no guarantee that we would be able to summon it after so many centuries."
"We don't have to use magic...we still have Johnathan Gilbert," Caroline suddenly interjected in a knowing voice, her eyes meeting Kaspar's and the necromancer gave a small smile, "When Kaspar was in his Rip Van Winkle-esque sleep, he said Luka, Dominic's twin brother came to him and told him that he had deciphered their tattoos and that the key to stopping Dominic lay in his tattoos…" she quickly reached into her jean jacket pocket and plucked out the map they had hastily drawn at the Mikaelson Mansion and held it up for everyone to see, "He also drew this line grid map and gave it Kaspar. We mapped it out and figure out it leads us to a spot in the historic district of Mystic Falls…"
Caroline suddenly turned to Damon, "It's Elena's house…and two hundred years before, where the original Gilbert Manison stood."
"There is something at Elena's house that Luka thinks we can use to stop Dominic—perhaps a weapon—or something to help us decode the tatoos…perhaps even something related to his soul...I'm not sure. He wasn't clear on the facts," Kaspar said, shaking his head, then turned his gaze toward his brother and Damon Salvatore, "That is why we need you two."
"Us?" Damon narrowed his eyes in confusion, "What are you saying?"
"He's saying that we once knew Jonathan Gilbert, Damon," Misha said, looking over his shoulder toward the vampire, "So we would be the best people to know what we might be looking for."
"You were his valet for years," Damon said to the warlock, shrugging his shoulders "I just saw him at dinner parties and council meetings. The only thing I knew about him was that he was an inventor—"
"Yes," Kaspar interjected, "He was well known in supernatural circles for such inventions."
"And…he was a bit off…he—he kept these journals…" Damon continued, "I remember seeing him writing in them at council meetings. The Gilberts kept them for years after he died—"
"Oh, my GOD!" Caroline suddenly cried, jumping up, "Of course! The journals! That's it! That would be the best way to find what we are looking for. They're probably still at Elena's house—"
"Fabulous!" Klaus smirked, "But how will we get them, Love? If you haven't noticed we're in Fort Knox—"
"Actually," Misha pointed out, "Damon compared it to the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979."
Klaus covered his mouth and chuckled under his breath, "Oh....that's good!"
Damon smirked sadly, "I'm Jimmy Carter…"
Suddenly, Misha, Kaspar, Caroline and Klaus all burst out laughing, leaving Rebekah and Kol to just stare at eachother in confusion.
"Who is Jimmy Carter?" Kol asked, genuinely confused, eying the two warlocks and two vampires and they just laughed harder
When they all finally came down, Caroline pulled out her phone out of her back pocket and scrolled through the contacts.
"Jeremy is at their house right now with Bonnie," she said, "I'll call him."
"Hold on!" Kaspar said, putting up a hand to stop her, his eyes realizing something, "We can't make calls without the possibility of him overhearing the frequency. In fact, he's probably heard every word we've been saying for the past three hours."
"Shit..." Misha cursed softly under his breath, hitting his hand hard on the table in disgust
"Well, even if that's the case, we can't let him hear anything else…" Klaus said
"And just what exactly do you propose?" Kaspar asked
Klaus smirked then disappeared from the room with vampire speed.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion for a few moments until Klaus returned with a large coin sorter in his hands.
"Hey... Ho! Hold up! That's Stefan's!" Damon cried, stepping forward as Klaus opened the lid and dumped the massive pile of coins into the center of the table.
"Let's go everyone!" Klaus quipped, tossing the coin sorter over his shoulder, "Don't be shy! Grab a handful—"
"What the Hell is this?" Rebekah chided with a raised eyebrow
"In honor of our big brother who could not be with us," Klaus announced, looking around the room, "This is a WWED moment... 'What Would Elijah Do?' And what would Elijah do?" Klaus stepped back and pointed down to the coin pile, "Elijah would pull out one of his oldest tricks."
"This is brilliant!" Kol chuckled as he grabbed a handful of coins