Chapter 18
"No little witch the sleeping bags should be laid open. We will use the comforters as our blankets. Honestly I can't believe I ever slept in one of those!" Rebekah ordered around. Caroline held her hand to her lips holding back laughter at the sight.
Rebekah's bedroom had been transformed; her large luxurious bed had mysteriously disappeared. Caroline could hear both Kol and Finn bickering in the background of where the hell they would put their sister's bed. Elijah and Niklaus chuckling, the blonde assumed being no help whatsoever.
"You dragged your brothers into this?" Caroline asked her fellow blonde as she and Bonnie walked back into the room. Sage cackled from her spot on the floor rearranging the sleeping bags at the blonde's order with a glare.
"Remember Bekah I can still kick your ass" Sage warned a hiss when Rebekah opened her mouth to correct the redhead.
"Bonnie how about you and I show these girls how it's done? You know for being so old you both suck at this bonding activity" Caroline teased as Bonnie shook her head taking the sleeping bag from Sage. The vampire allowed the witch to take the offending fabric with a scoff. As the two younger women took over, the elder began to bicker even if it held less of a deadly edge than it used to.
"We never bonded" Rebekah snapped pouting as Caroline insisted she move so the younger could have room to help Bonnie.
"You seemed to bond over Damon's torture just fine" Bonnie quipped, unease still in her eyes. Caroline smiled at the witch encouragingly, knowing how difficult it was for the girl to open up to people they had been fighting against for months.
"That falls under family business. And clearly even after 900 years Finn refused to get rid of her. I assume it's time to try and get along" Rebekah pursed her lips as if she smelled something foul.
Sage smirked at her, "Your just upset that your big brother has more fun with me."
"Finn is the only brother with absolutely zero taste" Rebekah said despondently flinging herself onto the pillows Caroline had thrown onto the floor, Bonnie repeating her actions on the other side. The blonde winked at the witch as Caroline began to scold the original for ruining her symmetry.
"Does she have something else going on?" Sage whispered to Bonnie kneeling next to the girl as the two blondes began to bicker.
Bonnie shook her head, "As much as we joke Caroline just really likes things a certain way."
"Ah, our little Neurotic blonde then" Sage sighed shaking her head, "I thought Finn having one paranoid control freak brother was bad enough. Now said brother found himself a mate."
Rebekah laughed while Caroline glowered at them crossing her arms, "I don't go murdering people!"
Bonnie snorts, "Did you not just admit to murdering twelve witches?"
"Saving you! I haven't done that and will not unless you go and mess with Professor Shane some more!"
The group fell silent as Bonnie began to wring her hands in her lap. Caroline's eyes widened, "Bonnie! I'm so-"
The witch shook her head, "No we need to talk about it."
XXX
Niklaus Mikaelson walked down with his brothers into the basement where Damon could be heard groaning in the background. Finn's face remained passive as did Elijah's, but his youngest brother looked like Christmas had indeed come early.
"Can I?" Kol asked eyeing the metal bat he had left down by Damon's cage.
The hybrid looked thoughtful for a moment his blue eyes lightening up, "I'm feeling rather gracious today brother. Why don't you do the honors?"
Before Niklaus could potentially take it back the youngest Mikaelson quickly grabbed his bat, as Elijah lazily flicked the keys to the gate at him.
"Kol do try not to get blood on your shirt. We are not animals."
Kol shot Elijah a dirty look, swinging his bat against the cage causing their guest to wince at the loud clanking sound.
"Good Evening, Damon."
XXX
A loud groan could be heard throughout the house. Caroline and Bonnie looked up at the sound, the blonde immediately turning to the two other vampires.
"What are they doing?"
Sage looked towards Rebekah who groaned, "It's our girl's night. We do not even acknowledge my brothers this evening! Does it really matter what they are doing?"
Bonnie and Caroline answered simultaneously, "Yes."
Sage smirked at the original sister who scowled back, "Since we cannot hear more than a groan. I assume they are in the dungeon."
"Why is dungeon the least weird thing I have heard all day?" Bonnie muttered to herself earning amused shakes of the head from the rest of the girls.
"Why are they entering the dungeon, Bekah?" Caroline continued to question her hands reaching out to Bonnie who immediately picked up the hand and the blondes other placing them on the witch's head.
Almost immediately the blonde maneuvered herself, so the vampire was able to focus on braiding the witch's hair while focusing Rebekah with a piercing stare. Bonnie for her part following all curt orders from the blonde, as the two older vampires looked perplexed at the exchange.
"She likes to do things with her hands when stressed. Klaus in the dungeon where Damon is puts stress on Caroline" Bonnie explained seeing that neither girl had any experience with understanding a friend so well they knew what trigger to pull to help the other focus.
"They want to know how much about the cure the Salvatore's know. No offense Bonnie, but we doubt they would have told you everything" Rebekah confessed after a few minutes of Caroline tugging on Bonnie's hair with her blue eyes sending daggers at the original. How the blonde could not hurt her friend while clearly focusing on Rebekah, was impressive not that the original would ever tell the blonde that.
"No offense taken."
"Offense taken" Caroline snipped pulling her hands away leaving Bonnie's long hair into a French braid.
"Care" Bonnie warned.
The blonde sighed, "Fine. So, the male Mikaelson's are getting dirt on the Salvatore's about their progress towards the cure, we have one massacre completed which means we need to ensure the hybrids safety."
"Klaus already said he would not murder them" Sage said helpfully.
Caroline sighed, "Somehow I doubt it is going to be that easy. Bonnie have you thought anymore about your options?"
'Shane won't leave me alone not now. I'm the only Bennett witch left, and the only descendent of the witch left that he knows of. I refuse to let any of my cousins be dragged into this."
"Then you need to decide" Rebekah stated.
It took Bonnie a moment before answering. When she answered it was soft with an underlying steel of determination "I… I will pour my power out, so we can keep it safe especially if we need it. Shane won't know the difference."
XXX
"ARGH" Damon groaned fighting against the vervain laced chains. The Mikaelson men surrounding him, the youngest grinning as he playfully touched the bat to the man's stomach for another strike.
"Are you feeling chatty now Damon?" Kol asked, forcing Damon to look him in the eye as he failed to pay any real attention to Elijah who had walked behind the pair.
"Fuck you," Damon spit. He screamed as his back arched as Elijah had stabbed him with knife in stomach.
"You want to talk about fucking? I'm sure my brother has some very choice words for you. As we all do" Elijah purred twisting the knife.
"As much as I would love to focus on your actions against Caroline, we have some other questions that need answered. Damon you will pay for your actions, first with your cooperation," Niklaus hissed stepping so close that the original was almost touching Damon.
"First question, better answer honestly. My brother's do love a good torture. How long has it been?" Niklaus asked his brothers.
"I haven't had a good torture since my stint as a torturer in the 16th century. They really started to frown on it once the revolutions started" Kol sighed, "I'm telling you the whole Enlightenment movement was more trouble than it was worth."
"Now Damon, your first question. What do you know about the Five?"
When the vampire did not answer, Niklaus gave a soft shake of his head bowing his head towards his younger brother. Kol's face lit up like a Christmas tree as he swung the bat into the vampire's stomach. A loud crack could be heard when the object met its target.
"Shall we try that again?" Kol asked, "What do you know about the Five, Salvatore?"
"Gahh, the Five were some ancient vampire hunter who would unlock a portion of the map to a supposed cure with every vampire they killed. We killed the last one but found a second. Stefan wants the cure for Elena, thinks that the girl cannot handle being a vampire" Damon spat out, blood pouring from his lip.
Elijah pressed his knife into Damon's back, allowing the vampire to feel the sharp blade near his stomach. "Who is this second hunter?"
"Jeremy. What the fuck could you want with it? It's probably fake" Damon hissed, glaring at the vampires in front of him, as the vervain against his wrist burned his skin every time he moved.
"That is none of your concern, Damon. Now what else did little old Professor Shane tell you?" Niklaus asked smirking when Elijah's knife was pushed into the vampires back when he did not answer quickly enough.
"There's a weapon that we need. It would read out a spell the one that Shane needs" Damon spat blood into the hybrids face.
"Why does the professor need this weapon? What is it?" Elijah questioned softly sharing a grim look with his brothers.
Damon hisses in pain, "The shady bastard said it holds the spell to release Silas to be free with his dead lover, alright?"
Kol pressed the top of his bat against the vampire's chest, "And the weapon?" They needed to make sure that they were not missing any new weapons that they had.
"It's a sword."
"Now about Caroline…" Niklaus purred, "We need to have a chat about how to properly handle a woman. Clearly your father never taught you."
XXX
A loud piercing scream could be heard all the way from the dungeons below. Caroline sighed pausing from painting Rebekah's toes as Bonnie did Sage's.
"Do they have to torture him now?" Caroline let out a small whine causing Rebekah to smirk at her.
"You picked the wrong family to join if you dislike torture."
Sage giggled earning a glare from Bonnie who hissed not to move, "Our illustrious female original is right. Torture is kind of a Mikaelson family thing, the siblings do love to bond over torture."
"Distract me or else I am barging in on there and I'm half afraid of what I am going to walk in on" Caroline said quickly as another scream could be heard.
"Do you still have the fog covering your memories? " Sage mentioned quietly, as Bonnie had gifted her the nail polish.
"I was questioning that myself. Sometimes it feels as if you have no memory block but then there are holes in the story you truly cannot remember enough to fill" Rebekah warily looked over at the blonde who had gone quiet.
"Emily…"
"Bennett? Emily Bennett my ancestor?' Bonnie asked.
Caroline rolled her eyes with a grin, "Yes that Emily"
"Bitch" Bonnie muttered causing the group to laugh, Caroline nodding her head.
"When I was at the hotspot, where she and the other 100 witches died where Stefan was keeping Rebekah and Niklaus's siblings. That was where she told me it was the Bennett ancestors who pulled me back, to help fix the balance."
Sage shook her head, "You're a vampire you don't use magic."
"But it was my friends that kept putting the balance at risk. First there was Finn's death then Kol's and the whole cure situation. I think that's what they wanted me to stop before the situation gets dire and if anything goes wrong its hopefully well within the realm of magic to mend the issue" Caroline swiped her hand in front of her face trying to appear nonchalant, even as the others could tell she was rattled.
Rebekah reached over to grab Caroline's hand and squeezed it. Caroline smiled at the blonde knowing how uncharacteristic it was for the girl to truly reach out to those outside of her blood relations.
"They warned me about my role in the group, that the path I was going down was dangerous" Bonnie sighed, " I didn't understand it until they showed me a bit of our future."
When the others did not interrupt the witch continued, "I think that you're on the right track Caroline. If you say that Silas is as bad you say he is then we cannot let him loose. It will cause damage that we cannot repair."
Rebekah and Sage raised handed the girls classes of wine, when Bonnie raised an eyebrow in judgement Sage snorted.
"Oh, like you have never had alcohol."
Rebekah sighed, "Witches can't help but judge. I don't understand Kol's obsession."
XXX
Stefan found Elena sitting on her front porch with her hands buried into her hands. She did not flinch when he came up the steps sitting down next to her. They shared a companionable silence, the younger Salvatore allowing her time.
"How did I not see it? I knew he drank from her why didn't I ask?" Elena sobbed the words out bringing a shaking hand to her mouth, despite her brother already at their house by the lake far from the drama of Mystic Falls, but without a high possibility of crossing paths with a vampire.
"I thought I saw the darkest parts of my brother, Elena. I never thought of it in the way Caroline described" Stefan spoke softly, refraining from touching the brunette doing his upmost best to respect her decision.
"I think I'm falling in love with him, Stefan. How can I love someone who did that to my friend?" Elena whispered.
Stefan closed his eyes, shutting down the tug on his heart. Right now, he needed to check on Elena not wallow in his own heartbreak. Elena looked over at him, her brown eyes filled with tears and regret.
"Stefan, I am sorry" She whispered into his shoulder wrapping her arms around him, as Stefan gently pulled her into a one-armed hug.
"I only want you to be happy Elena."
"I can't… I can't see him Stefan. Where is he?"
Stefan grimaced causing Elena to become wary as she lifted herself up. Pulling herself back so she could look him in the eye.
"Stefan?"
"The Mikaelson's have him. They won't kill him, Elena. As hard as it is to admit but Klaus cares for Caroline, we might not understand it, but this is his way of protecting her" Stefan raised his hands forcing Elena to sit back and listen.
"How long do you think it will be before they do kill him, Stefan. I hate what he did, but I don't want him to die" Elena hissed, "What are we going to do?"
Stefan let out a exasperated sigh running his hands through his hair, " We need Caroline."
Elena looked green, "Do we have to involve Care? We can't ask that of her."
"Do you have a secret in with the originals that I don't know about? Then we need Caroline."
"What about making a deal? I can offer a safe amount of my blood, by the month for Damon's release. We can put him on house arrest, just a promise not to kill him unless provoked. If we get Elijah to agree he will ensure his siblings keep the promise."
XXX
"Lijah, I was wondering when you would call" Katherine purred into her phone, snapping her fingers together as the compelled salesperson went to gather her reject pile. The curly haired brunette quickly scanned the amount of clothes in the remaining pile settled comfortable on the settee in the changing room.
"Hate to disappoint but I'm not Elijah" Caroline's voice came through on the other end. Brown eyes narrowed the number was specifically linked to Elijah's phone. How did her little sacrifice get her hands on an originals phone?
"Honey, you have about ten seconds to inform me how on earth you got a hold of Elijah's phone. If you and your friends managed to somehow get past him, well one I would run and two why would you call me?"
"Oh, this is something you will want to be in Mystic Falls for. I can even promise safe passage from the angry doggy hybrid you've spent 500 years running from. You'd also get to see Elijah while you are at it, said vampire allowed me to use his phone" Caroline answered, using her ability to speak quickly to good use.
"Elijah allowed you to use his phone" Katherine repeated as the saleswoman returned with a little red dress, the vampire rolled her eyes and flicked away the dress. The saleswoman scampered in fear trying to find something else that could please the vampire.
" You know how it is with the Mikaelson's just need to undagger them and they are usually willing to listen. That and Klaus does have a thing for me" Caroline shrugged; hearing Katherine laugh at the other end.
"Yes, Klaus always did have a thing for blondes" The brunette mused to herself. The brunette froze when she heard the phone exchange hands, being able to hear Caroline's muffled "You could have just asked."
"Katerina" Elijah's voice caused goosebumps to crawl over Katherine's skin.
"Caroline?" Katherine asked warily, not knowing the blonde well enough to know if she spoke the truth about Elijah. She firmly believed that Klaus developed a thing for the blonde, it would be typical of him. The man always liked to do things the opposite of how she planned, but if she spoke true perhaps it was a good thing Klaus did not use Caroline in the ritual.
"Is occupied by Rebekah and Kol. They needed her opinion on something I did not want to worry you unnecessarily."
"You gave her your phone."
"Caroline….is family and she asked for you. I thought you would not appreciate if I just gave your number away" Elijah's words soothed the paranoid edges of Katherine. That sounded just like him, especially if he was calling Caroline family.
"Little Blondie is family now?" Katherine teased, "Did your little brother find love? I never took Caroline as the masochist type."
"Katerina play nice" Elijah warned, " I can only do so much to protect you Katerina. Stopping my brother from hurting you if something happens to Caroline? That is something I do believe is beyond my reach."
Katherine Pierce held her breath, "Niklaus always wants to kill me Elijah, nothing new."
"Katherine" Elijah growled softly.
"Tell the baby vampire I'm on my way. This had better be good."