Elena closed her eyes as she tried to will away the almost overwhelming smell of blood that surrounded her. It wasn't until they had arrived with the ambulance at Booker T. Washington Memorial Hospital that she realized just how long it had been since she had fed.
And as a result, she now sat there in the emergency waiting room, desperately trying to keep her eyes from fixing on the necks of the two young female receptionists at the front desk and trying even harder not to imagine what blood type was currently pumping through their veins…
"Elena…" a soft voice and a gentle touch suddenly broke her from her trance and she looked up to see Elijah standing in front of her.
"Here," the original said in a low voice, smirking slightly as he handed a two-pack of Hostess chocolate cupcakes to her, no doubt salvaged from a hospital vending machine somewhere on the premises.
He then took a seat beside her as he continued, "I compelled one of the orderlies into giving me some blood, too. It's in the car. But, that should tide you over for now."
"Bless you," Elena gasped, then looked down to the cupcakes in her hand, and though she suddenly had the overwhelming sensation to immediately rush out to the car and down every blood bag Elijah had left there, opened the package.
"Mr…. Mikaelson?" a young, blonde nurse in purple scrubs piped up as she turned from the reception desk at the front of the room, her eyes still looking down at the medical chart in her hand.
Her words immediately brought Elijah to his feet and when the nurse scanned the room and caught sight of him, she gave a kind and gentle smile as she stepped forward toward him.
"If you want to follow me through the glass doors, Sir, the doctor will see you now."
Elijah looked down to Elena, who immediately put aside the cupcakes in her hand and stood up.
"I'm sorry," the young nurse said in a sweet voice, looking to Elena, "Only one of you can go in at this time."
Elijah opened his mouth to speak, but Elena touched his arm.
"It's okay," she said, nodding to the nurse and then to the original, "You should go."
Elijah searched her face for a moment, then leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek before departing with the nurse through the large glass doors at the end of the hallway that read AUTHORIZED HOSPITAL STAFF ONLY in red lettering.
Elena watched after them as they walked halfway down the hall, weaving through a small crowd of hospital staff, before they met up with a tall, handsome, middle-aged doctor with auburn hair and glasses coming from the opposite direction.
As he met them in his blood stained, light green scrubs, Elena suddenly realized that she was grateful she wasn't there with Elijah.
One thing that she did regret, however, was that she was too hungry to focus her concentration and open up her vampire hearing to listen in on their conversation.
So she could only watch intently as the two men talked solemnly for a few moments before she saw Elijah put his hands on his hips and bowed his head in sorrow, his face crumbling as the doctor put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
# # # # # # #
"Thank you," Chogun smiled up to Caroline as he took a seat on the couch in the back parlor and she placed a cup of coffee in front of him after introductions were completed in the foyer.
As she crossed back to the door, she handed a bag of blood to Misha.
"When you go back up, will you take this to Klaus?" Caroline asked, "It's been a few hours since he has fed."
Misha gave a small, uncertain smirk.
"Of course," he said, turning the bag over in the palm of his hand.
Caroline smiled passed him and left the room for the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "Food will be ready soon."
Bonnie, Damon, Rebekah, Kol and Jeremy watched after her for a moment before they all took positions standing and sitting around the old medicine man.
"I still don't understand exactly why Kaspar sent for you," Damon said, leaning against the fireplace
"I told you the story…" Chogun said, narrowing his eyes, "Kaspar called me as he boarded the plane to come here from whatever sand hole he was hiding in in the middle east. First, he was worried about the original witch—about her power. He asked me to stand by in case I was needed, which I did, but he never called me."
Rebekah took in a deep breath and Kol nodded.
"Forgive me…" Chogun lamented suddenly, "I understood her to be your mother."
"No," Rebekah said softly, "Elijah was right. Our mother died a thousand years ago. The woman we fought was not our mother…not anymore."
"I see…" Chogun replied, then continued, "It was only a few days ago when Kaspar contacted me, again. It was regarding a new threat, stating that this time he would definitely need assistance—that an evil creature had risen—one partly of his own making—a hunter that could not yet be killed. Like I said before, he also stated that if you did find a way to defeat him, that it would take a great deal of dark magic to bind him and perform the spell and he communicated his need for another that possessed his skills. As he was my grandfather's apprentice and has remained a longtime friend, I have come."
The old man paused for a moment, then said, turning the Misha, "Your brother thought of you and your siblings often. He appreciated all that you did for him when you were young—how you and Octavian came to visit him in the woods and bring him food and supplies in his exile with my people. He never forgot it. I am sorrier for his death than you will ever know… And, sorrier still that you had so little time to get to know him, again."
Misha nodded slowly and gave the man a sad, gentle smile, then said, "You'll have to forgive, Damon. He's always a bit skeptical of newcomers…"
"Yes," Damon countered, "Especially, those who arrive late to the game…and know my name without introduction."
"Well," Chogun scoffed as he reached inside his deer hide jacket, "That is a secret that I share with very few people, Damon. But, as I am going to share my particular skill set with you and your friends regardless in this fight against evil, you may as well know…"
His eyes then focused on the young vampire as he produced a small flask from his jacket, "It was your mother that told me."
"What?" Damon breathed as he pushed off of the mantle and took a step forward, his nostrils flaring.
"Oh, my God…" Rebekah whispered, sitting up straight in her chair and casting her eyes to Kol as a small smirk crossed her lips, "It's true."
Damon looked from Rebekah and Kol back to the old medicine as he unscrewed the flask and poured a measured amount of alcohol into his cup.
"You see dead people?" Damon inquired with a raised eyebrow then said sarcastically, "Well, that's not creepy…"
"I don't see them, necessarily," Chogun replied before taking a sip directly from the flask, then smacking his lips together when finished, "I hear their souls—they find me—mostly because of my gifts. They seek see me out and, if they want me to or when needed, I help them. If not, I leave them to return to the ether of time and space. To put it simply, in the common tongue, like Kaspar, I am a necromancer. I speak to the dead—I listen to souls…like your mother, Damon. You would never know it, but, her soul is all through this house, like a warm breeze on a spring day. And your father and your brother, Stefan. They are here also. As is your friend, Johnathan Gilbert and your former lover, Katherine Pierce. They are all here for you, Damon and they want you to know that. That is why I hear them."
Damon took in a short, trembling breath as he and the medicine men locked eyes for a few silent moments before Chogun screwed the top back onto the flask and tucked it back into his jacket, then continued, breaking his eyes from Damon's as he looked around the room, "You see, unlike Kaspar, I practice natural necromancy in accordance to the laws and beliefs of my people, doing what I can to restore the balance of nature when it is necessary. I do not use my gifts without regret or consequence to make a living has he did for centuries. It is not a way of life for me—it is service—a calling and what my grandfather taught me to do to honor the one Great Sprit and the legacy of my people."
"And, just how the Hell is a necromancer going to help us?" Damon asked, mention of his dead loved ones touching a nerve and now bringing his anger forward, "Dominic is soulless. It's what he's after in the first place—his whole goal in this…That and, of course, killing big brother, Elijah."
"Elijah is here?" Chogun asked suddenly, his coffee cup raised in midair where the original's name stopped him in his tracks.
"No," Bonnie chimed in from where she stood at Misha's side, "But, he's on his way."
"Good," Chogun replied as he finally brought his coffee cup to his lips, speaking directly to Misha and Bonnie, "We'll need him. He's a source of powerful magic."
Rebekah and Kol looked curiously to the witch and warlock, but they kept silent about what they knew of Elijah and his link to the doppelgangers.
Chogun finally took a sip from the cup and continued, "For now, I sense that the hunter is lying low. He has not found your new cover as of yet, but if he wants to kill Elijah as you say, then he's the perfect bait for my plan—"
"Plan?" Jeremy interjected then looked uncertainly around the room before casting his brown eyes back on the old man again, "You've been here less than ten minutes and already, you have a plan?"
"Well, without Elijah, it's only part of a plan…" Chogun lamented, "But, if it goes right, it will help you subdue Dominic. I mentioned before that Kaspar knew that would be the hardest part—that you were looking for a way to destroy him, but he suspected that you would need to trap him first and be able to hold him to perform any rituals that needed to be done. Hence, why I am here. Now, from what I understand, it's not going to be as easy as throwing a net over him and dragging him back here, but I think what I have in store for him, just might work."
"Any way you'll share it with us?" Damon scoffed, folding his arms across his chest
"I don't know, Damon Alessandro Salvatore…" Chogun smirked, putting down his cup, "You have your mother's eyes, but, according to her, you also have your father's stubborn nature and tendency for doubt. Is there a way you'll actually listen, keep an open mind and possibly go along with what I have to say? No matter how crazy it might seem."
"How crazy are we talking?" Damon inquired with a smirk, his curiosity peaked
"Oh..." Chogun replied with twinkle in his eye, "Crazy enough to be the epic stuff of legends."
# # # # # # # #
"Oh, Niklaus!" Misha sang as he climbed to top of the staircase and walked down the second floor hallway toward Klaus' room, "Better gird your loins and prepare for the fireworks and the dancing midgets on floating mushrooms blowing bubbles, little brother…Because, I have a feeling that is where this night is headed! Oh, Lordy! Things are happennnnning!"
When he walked through the open bedroom door he was met with Klaus' broad smile as the original eyed him from where he still lay in bed, the poultices Misha had applied with the supplies Bonnie had brought from Esther's old room before the Algonquins had shown up at the front door, still lay wrapped in spots on his bare chest, neck and back.
"I take it your enthusiasm and the 'dancing midgets' remark has to do with our guests downstairs?" Klaus asked, "Native Americans, I would guess. Here to help with our hunter problem?"
Misha stopped at the end of the bed, eying the original with a raised, curious eyebrow "Vampire senses coming and going?"
"No. I heard them with my human ears," Klaus smirked, "I could tell by the accents. And the voices carried from the foyer up the stairs. And, by the way, you do know that now-a-days, midgets actually prefer to be called 'little people'? Just saying…"
"Noted," Misha chuckled, then continued, "Well, Chogun White Feather, it seems is our new ally and a man of many talents. He's a necromancer and apparently, Kaspar recruited his help without informing me. I'm guessing this was his ace up the sleeve."
"I see..." Klaus said, giving a small smile as he adjusted himself under his covers, "I'm fond of the ace up the sleeve, myself."
"And, of course," Misha continued, "As he's telling us his plan for capturing Dominic so that we can perform the rituals we have planned for him—the look on Damon Salvatore's face—God, I wish I had a camera!"
"Damon is not easily impressed," Klaus replied, "It must be something."
"Well, I have to hand it to the old man, the plan is…" Misha paused and shook his head in awe as he brought his hand over his head, "High caliber. So much so, I think it might actually work. But, we are all going to need to be at the top of our game."
Suddenly, he lowered the hand over his head and brought the other from behind his back, producing the blood bag there.
"Speaking of…" the warlock smirked, holding up the blood bag for Klaus to see, "Caroline sent you a gift to put with the others."
Klaus sighed in good humored exasperation and watched as Misha looked down to the floorboards at his feet, then pushed one of the lose ones through with his heel of his boot before dropping the blood bag unceremoniously into the secret hole on top of the others.
He then gently lowered the board back in place and looked up to Klaus.
The two men shared a chuckle for a moment before Misha's phone rang and he reached into his jean pocket and pulled out his phone, giving the front a quick glance before swiping the touch screen and picking up the call.
"Elijah?" he answered, then listened intensely for a few moments as Elijah spoke.
Klaus struggled against his wrappings as he sat up in bed and focused his attention on Misha as the warlock's expression changed from worry to sadness to grief.
"Elijah…I'm so sorry," he said softly, then listened as the vampire replied
After a few more moments, the warlock said, "Don't worry about that right now. We'll figure something out. Just get here as soon as you can…" then Misha smirked, "Yeah, we've got a surprise or two for you, as well...Be safe and take care."
Misha closed his eyes as he hung up the phone and slid it back into his pocket before turning to Klaus, whose expression of worry prompted the warlock to immediately explain.
"It seems that Elijah was traveling back to Mystic Falls with Elena and Vivienne—" he started
But, Klaus interrupted "Vivienne?"
"Oh, yeah…" Misha said, back tracking, "You were out cold during all of that. In doing some digging, we discovered through Bonnie Bennett, that the caster of the original spell that trapped the hunter's soul in the Gilbert compass was Vivienne."
"Small world..." Klaus replied
"Indeed," Misha retorted
"The hunter in New Orleans…" Klaus suddenly whispered, bringing forth the memory for the first time in over a hundred years, "But, that wasn't Dominic…it couldn't have been."
"No. It was Luka," Misha replied with a small smile, "Which is why this plan to reverse the original spell on the compass and free the souls in going to work."
"But, they're not Dominic's souls…" Klaus realized, his eyes widening in realization
"Nope." Misha finished
"Nicely played…." Klaus smirked, his eyes dancing
"Well," Misha continued, "Only give me kudos when this is all over and you and your brother are safe from harm. Now, Elijah just called to inform me of some very bad news."
"What is it?" Klaus asked
"As I said, it's Vivienne," Misha said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, "She dead."
"Dead?" Klaus retorted in surprise, "How?"
"She collapsed at a rest stop on the way here. Apparently, according to the doctors at the hospital, it was an aneurism. Vivienne must have known of a diagnosis and that her time was short because Elijah said that she came along for the ride not only to provide us with the spell necessary to free the souls from the compass, but to give herself as the human sacrifice needed to restore balance and banish Dominic back to the other side."
"There must always be a balance…" Klaus whispered to himself, then scoffed aloud, "One often forgets."
"Well, it poses a dilemma," Misha said, suddenly reaching forward and checking the poultice on Klaus' right arm, "Because, now Elijah is on his way to Mystic Falls and luckily, still has Vivienne's grimoire with the spell we need, Chogun has a plan to capture Dominic and we seem to have all the magical strength we need…But, what we do need to figure out now is the human sacrifice thing. If Vivienne is gone. Who will take her place?"
There was a few moments of silence as Misha continued to work on Klaus' arm, then moved to the poultice on his chest.
Suddenly, Klaus cleared his throat.
"Misha," he said, his eyes suddenly focusing on the warlock and Misha stopped his actions to lock eyes with the original, "Will you ask Kol and Rebekah to come up here, please?"