Chapter 25
Elijah stood in the shade across from the Whitmore House on the college campus, current base for the St. Augustine Society. The small amount of information Caroline had been able to give them, had led them straight towards the small southern college, Whitmore. It had been ridiculously easy to locate their headquarters after that. His ears quietly picked up the stiletto heels clapping over to him, the wearer so light the only reason he would have known she was there were his vampiric abilities.
"Elijah, I'm bored" Katherine pouted tapping her foot on the cement. He raised one eyebrow at her before going back to the newspaper in his hand, his eyes skimming the premise.
"No one is stopping you Katerina " Elijah replied concentrating on his surveillance of the college building. He had quickly presumed there would be to many witnesses to simply compel in a timely manner. The annoyances of common technology meant that even if they compelled every single one, video footage could easily undo their work.
It was a tedious task. One that Elijah refused to have to do when they could avoid the necessity of it and thus the fallout if even one person escaped their notice.
Katherine continued to pout taking a step closer to the ancient vampire, placing a manicured nail through the paper. If there was one thing Katherine Pierce hated, it was being ignored. Elijah was a man who knew this fact better than most. The five hundred year old vampire was irritated, and she wanted Elijah to know. The man sighed pulling it down from his face, "Yes?"
"You know every single one of those disgusting humans are in vervain" The brunette tilted her head towards the building.
"What information have you managed to gather Katerina?" Elijah questioned, ignoring her previous statement. Aside from the annoyance of their modern technology, there was also the fact this society knew about vampires. If a group of humans was intending to capture vampires then they would indeed be on vervain. Really it was simply logic, Elijah mused that Katherine was so annoyed at him she was using one of his pet peeves against him.
Seems like their games have begun.
"St. Augustine Society currently being led by a Dr. Wes Maxfield. Caretaker to the current heir to the Whitmore family fortune. Damon was kept here for a period of time, you know" Katherine doled out putting extra emphasis on the end of fortune.
"Hmm too bad we will have to be rid of this Augustine Society or else I'd recommend to my brother what a lovely summer vacation this would be for our dear friend, Damon" Elijah hummed.
Katherine licked her lips, pleasure reaching her eyes at seeing a spark of Elijah's ruthless streak. Elijah was always the purest with his familial loyalty, family above all and all that nonsense. Its intrigued Katherine just how quickly little Caroline managed to wiggle her way into the fold. Elijah lowered his eyes to her lips before returning to her eyes, "Is that all?"
The former doppelganger resisted the urge to stomp her foot when Elijah refused to go along with any attempts at flirtation. They had been getting along so well since their reunion, now the original vampire was once again pushing her away.
"I've compelled a human with a few bombs of tear gas, enough that it should clear out the entire building of humans. As compulsion is out of the question if we want this done quietly" Katherine continued, "What I'm questioning is your sudden mood change."
"There is nothing sudden about my move, Katerina." There went that monotonous voice again.
"You damn well know, Elijah Mikaelson!" Katherine inwardly cursed him, glaring up at him her lips tilting just slightly at the sight of him slightly widening his eyes.
"Katherine, you've spent 500 years running from my family" He murmured.
"From Klaus" The vampire correctly haughtily, crossing her arms and tilting her hip to the right daring him to contradict her.
"You've spent 500 years running, plotted your way to freedom and when the baby vampire you changed only to die calls you come back?"
"I was curious. She also used your phone, bastard."
"Katerina, why are you still here? I thought your curiosity would have been satisfied by now" Elijah let out an exhausted sigh, irritating Katherine. She was not some child that Elijah needed to handle. Stepping towards him the younger vampire pushed the male into the nearby tree, his back hitting the bark with a solid thud.
"I'm here because I've decided to stop running for you! Also, Caroline seems to want me around for a bit, not that I blame her. She has terrible taste in friends" the vampire scoffed.
"What are you planning Katherine?" Elijah asked cupping her cheek almost lovingly. Katherine knew better he was trying to see past the façade, but they've been separated for many years. She's learned a thing or two since he last saw her.
"Who says I'm planning anything? Caroline asked me here to help. She clearly sees me as helpful. I'll leave once Caroline no longer requests my help."
Elijah let her cheek go, "You've never been one for girlfriends, Katerina."
The brunette flipped her hair, "We've bonded."
Elijah snorted, "How?"
The brunette's smile caused a shiver to go down Elijah's spine as her fingers raised themselves up snapping twice, out of the corner of his eye the original saw various humans each holding small tear gas bombs throwing them into the Whitmore building. He watched as dozens of students and professors made their way out covering their sensitive faces.
"We both enjoy the looks of annoyance on the face of Mikaelson men."
XXX
Caroline had just finished reading the note Bonnie had manage to send when she felt warm muscular arms wrap around her waist. Niklaus's breath was soft next to her ear, not at all overwhelming as it had with any other man in her life.
"What did your little witch have to say?" His words sent a shiver down her spine.
Leaning back into his embrace the blonde raised her voice just loud enough for his brother and Sage to hear. "Bonnie say's that they've landed. Professor Shane is behaving increasingly more erratic the longer they are on that island."
"Does Miss. Bennett wish for our assistance?" Finn's voice echoed from behind.
Caroline shook her head, "She said she'll light up our signal if needed."
Niklaus took that bit of information packing it away for later use, after all it may prove useful to know what exactly three teenage girls came up with for an emergency. If nothing else it would be something he could use to get Caroline riled up, she was breathtaking when angered. Moving Caroline so that now they faced his sibling, Niklaus continued to nuzzle on her neck. Finn shot his brother a dirty look, as the women held in their laughter.
"Finn don't act so prudish" Sage laughed out loud at her lover, coming up and rubbing his arm soothingly.
"I'm sorry my love, I'm just not used to such physical affection being out in public" Finn pursed his lips as Niklaus came up for air with a grin. Caroline smacked him upside the head, "don't antagonize your brother."
"It's so much fun though," Niklaus gave her a light-hearted grin.
Sage rolled her eyes at Caroline who fought to keep laughter from escaping. Caroline basked in the lightness of the moment for several minutes. It was then that another flash took her notice as a scroll of paper popped into the sky near her only to fall safely into her hands.
"Another message so soon?" Niklaus murmured.
"The last one was sent last night, "Caroline spoke absentmindedly waving him away as she quickly read through the message.
"Professor Shane had a contact on the island, a witch. He's taken Bonnie and Jeremy to locate Silas."
"Kol and Rebekah were supposed to be watching them" Niklaus growled.
"There was another witch, who was clearly informed about two original vampires on the island. Oww" Caroline retorted barely noting the crumpled up paper in her hand. Her face twisted in pain as a familiar ache began to flare up.
"What's wrong love?" Niklaus asked in concern bending down to examine her. Finn holding back Sage from getting to close, seeing the flash of amber in his brother's eyes.
"I'm remembering something about Jeremy's mark from before…We found out that the cure had only one dose."
Niklaus chuckled immediately began to relax knowing that the blonde would be fine within minutes, "Of course there is only one dose. That's hardly surprising it was created by a vindictive witch was it not?"
"Jeremy and Bonnie can't enter the cave, Niklaus. They are human they are going to bleed that will awaken Silas" Caroline groaned as the buzzing in her head finally eased. She shared a look with Niklaus watching as his features contorted into something that resembled a person who stepped into animal feces.
"Looks like we shall be walking onto that god forsaken island" Niklaus hissed before going to ensure that they got to the island in a timely manner.
As the hybrid broke off from the group, Sage raised a delicate brow up at the blonde "These are your friends, Caroline. What would you have us do?"
The ancient vampires turned towards the blonde in unison, watching as her brows brushed together in an expression of concentration. Searching her memories for what would be the best course of action. They had a solid plan; it would work but only if the outside influences were kept to a minimum. Once Caroline created a sequence of plans and back-up plans did she turn towards the original family.
"We're the back-up. We go to shore see if we can find Kol and Rebekah then we find Bonnie and Jeremy before they step foot in that damned cave" Caroline said towards the couple. Finn nodded before walking off in the direction of his brother no doubt to have a brotherly chat about the plan.
Sage raised an eyebrow at her, "Do we want to listen in?" in a playful tone. The blonde's reaction was so Caroline the redhead beauty had to laugh out loud. The vampire had to concede that perhaps the blonde was correct, some family discussions were best left alone.
XXX
The trek was so long Bonnie was thankful that she had vampires on her side as she looked over in concern at Jeremy. They had been at this for a few hours at this point, Bonnie was sure Caroline had to have reached the island by now. The big question is if she managed to find the others yet?
Would they be able to track her magical trail with the stones she had left in Kol's care just in case they were to be separated? Jeremy looked over at her with his puppy dog eyes, Bonnie gave him a small smile noticing for the first time that she no longer felt a pull towards him. Her feelings for him had morphed back to friendly if not familial.
Too bad she could not say the same for Jeremy's feelings. The witch could feel the younger boy's eyes drift over her, part in concern and another Bonnie shivered just thinking about it. After they got out of this, Bonnie vowed to have a talk with Jeremy.
"You okay Bon?" Jeremy whispered leaning over lowering himself right above her ear. The other witch nudged them roughly along the path, with the headstone stolen from Rebekah. The dark-skinned witch narrowed her eyes at the fellow.
A flash of blonde alerted Bonnie that they were not as alone as the Professor would like to think they were.
"Just follow my lead, okay Jere?"
When he nodded in confirmation, Bonnie called out to Shane questioning how much longer did they have to go?
"We are here" Shane sighed a happy smile only to blink in surprise when Rebekah was standing in front of him.
"Thank you for your service" Rebekah saluted before attacking him by the neck. Shane's witch friend tried to intervene but was blocked when Bonnie closed her fist tightly and concentrated forcing the witch to fall to the ground unconscious. Everything happened within seconds of each other then it was quiet as Rebekah dropped Shane to the ground.
"He's not dead" Rebekah defended her actions, pointing to the fact his wound was already healing.
Bonnie raised an eyebrow, "You healed him?"
"Can't have blood on the island floor anywhere near Silas" Rebekah muttered.
"Then he's dead" the witch's monotone voice spoke of her clear distaste for the act. The blonde rolled her eyes, "He got a few drops of blood, enough to heal not turn."
"And to avoid any possible nasty side effects like somehow feeding Silas" Jeremy muttered, referring to the blonde's earlier utterance. The witch looked down at the professor as a mixture of feelings battled for dominance within her.
Caroline had said that in the other life, Shane had died on the island. Her mind already being tricked by Silas, using her to perform the magic that he was not able to presently. He had used her, but he himself had been used. How was she supposed to feel? She was brought back to reality by Jeremy's comforting hand on her shoulder. He offered her a solemn nod as she returned a watery smile.
"Let's go" Bonnie muttered to the two vampires, tilting her body just to avoid physical contact with either of them.
"Well that was antic-climatic" Kol whined coming out of the woodwork followed by Caroline, Niklaus, Finn and Sage.
XXX
Stefan sighed sitting down next to Elena, "Still no sign of the others." They had been searching all morning for their missing team members. Damon had wondered off, earlier that evening after a particularly vicious fight with Elena. The doppelganger refused to mention just what that fight had been about. Rebekah and Kol had went to search but had yet to return.
Elena looked over at him, "Not even Rebekah? I thought you two were looking rather cozy."
"She's an original vampire partnered with her own sibling. They are the ones I am worried about the least" Stefan started before a paper fell into his hand. Elena looked over his shoulder, "Bonnie?"
"Rebekah and the other's found them, Caroline and her team are on the island" Stefan read as the paper flared up into flames.
"They are going to be okay" Elena let out a sigh in relief.
Stefan smiled softly, "Yeah, then they will collect the cure."
"We can all be human again" Elena sighed happily, "Why did you never tell me that you wanted to be human?"
Stefan looked over at the brunette with soft eyes, "It stopped being your business once we broke up. It wasn't an option while we were dating so why mention it? You knew the important parts like how I felt about being human and my struggles with vampirism."
Elena blushed, "I guess I never really thought about it. You've always been Stefan Salvatore, one of the good vampires one that I loved."
"There is one thing, something that Caroline has only actually just remembered. Remember the magic cast on her is finicky and we have no idea when she will remember things" Stefan warned knowing that the younger vampire did not get to read the note before it burst into flames.
"There is only one dose."
"And Rebekah is the only one who wants the cure that is actually near it" Elena bit her lip as her hands pulled into fists. Stefan's hand grasped hers, "There is still a chance that you can get it. Caroline is hardly going to get anyone take the damn thing while on the island."
"That's if she gets to it first!" Elena cried, visualizing her human dreams once again being whipped away.
"Rebekah knows how much you want it, I'm sure she would give you a fare fight. If only to stop Caroline's yammering" The two laughed being able to visualize exactly that.
"I've always wanted a human life with you. I've lived so long as a vampire knowing the worst and best of humanity. I wanted to have a family with you" Stefan whispered.
"I'm sorry that it's not turning out like we all hoped it would."
"Me too."
XXX
"You really don't know my friends" They could hear Damon's voice standing in the middle of a small space where a hole was placed. Bonnie groaned knowing that they would have to drop down a damn hole to get this damn cure.
"I told you it would be safer if you stayed outside" Caroline muttered earning an annoyed look from her childhood friend.
"Or my enemies" The amusement tickled Damon's throat as Rebekah and Caroline were the first to enter the enclosed space quickly followed by the others.
"Look here, the gangs arrived finally!" Came Damon's sarcastic response wincing when the hunter poked him with a long shaped weapon he held in his hand.
"Looks like we can get our own fun, brother" Niklaus murmured into Kol's ear who slowly nodded.
"Are we going to dance or are we going to play?" Damon asked.
"Yes, how would you like to die today hunter?" Niklaus asked generously, as he and his present siblings stood in front of Caroline and Bonnie.
"I may not have the white oak stake, but I do have other toys" The hunter said before shooting what looked like a metal circle into Niklaus's chest. He roared in pain as it activated pushing tinier stakes deep into his chest.
The hunter missed Sage kept hidden by the others. She crept up behind the hunter grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the wall. Knocking him out.
The redhead shrugged, "I don't feel like being haunted by annoying ghosts until the curse wears down."
Finn pulled the stakes out of his brother as Bonnie and Caroline peeked down at the whole in the ground that emerged.
"I would advise everyone to be on the lookout for hallucinations. Silas has the power to make us see things we wish to see" Kol warned.
Sage smiled up at Damon as she pulled his own weapons out of his body with glee as she made it as painful as possible. The dark-haired vampire growled, "Do you have to make it so damn painful?"
"Yes" Everyone voiced at once. Damon shrugged knowing that was very true, even if it stung a bit to hear.
Sage grabbed Damon by the arm and dragged him down with her, "If anyone is going to get hallucinations I bet it will be you. So, come on guinea pig."
The group made its way down the cave until they hit a dead end, Damon rolled his eyes, "Ooo look a dead end."
"Shut up Damon" Caroline, Rebekah and Bonnie said in unison.
Kol hummed, "Look for something that doesn't belong."
"Like what?" Bonnie asked.
"The people were pretty primitive, so anything like a perfectly geometrically shaped circle…. Bonnie, Caroline can you wipe the dirt off just there?"
XXX
"That's it" Rebekah hissed as the blonde once again ducked to fit into the cave's height requirement "this cure is so not worth all of this."
"Then why are you here?" Damon snarked.
"I'm here to ensure my family will not have to deal with an egomaniac even older than my brothers. Unlike you who is only here because he doesn't want his intestines ripped to shreds by my brother before you can try win back the uglier doppelganger whose morality is so high she can't see she stinks" the blonde hissed at him.
"Yeah right. Your little blonde ass just wants the cure, but oops looks like there is a complication. Like always. Elena wants the cure and if being here keeps me alive and helps her so be it" The Salvatore wheezed when the hybrid grabbed him by his neck and pushed him into the cave.
"I'd be careful if I were you" Niklaus hissed. Caroline ignored the commotion as she noticed Bonnie starring something at the distance.
"Bonnie?" Caroline asked delicately.
"Grams?"
"Bonnie, no" Jeremy grabbed the Bennett witch by her arms as she fought his grasp. Caroline flashed in front of the two.
"Bonnie, its Silas" Caroline took Bonnie's face gently into her hands. The witch had tears in her eyes, "What's happening?"
"It's Silas, Bonnie" Jeremy said softly, "He's using what little power he does have to make you see lost loved ones."
"Love, we have to keep going or Silas will just find more ways to contact us" Niklaus spoke directly to Caroline. Who nodded determinedly, "Okay Bonnie are you ready?"
The Bennett witch nodded, "Yeah."
The group slowly made their way further down. The cave went darker the deeper they went. The vampires led the way, helping their human counterparts through the trickier passageways. That was when they reached a dead end.
And there Silas lay, slumbering deep like a typical desiccated vampire, only he wasn't a vampire.
Caroline shivered taking a hold of Bonnie's wrist, " Let one of us get it Bonnie. Do you think you will be able to cast a spell to make him a bit more movable?"
Bonnie nodded, " I can try" before turning to Kol who placed one of the stones filled to the brim with her magic into her hand. Using it as a touch stone Bonnie closed her eyes. The others waited patiently as she murmured a spell softly to herself, the stone glowing as the witch tapped back into her own power.
Suddenly there was wind in the cave, swirling all around them. Bonnie allowed it to swirl around them for several more moments until her eyes opened, "Now."
Finn stood up preventing his siblings from acting standing before Silas. His eyes narrowed in on the tiny bottle of the cure. Finn touched the hands that clasped the cure using all his strength, he felt it budge.
"Kol, Niklaus" Finn called as his brothers surrounded him combining their strength. They struggled against Silas for seconds more before the cure came loose. Kol grabbed it throwing it into Caroline's grasp and they all let go just as Bonnie stopped chanting. Turning towards the group, Kol's brows furrowed seeing the sweat on Bonnie's brow.
"Alright little witch?"
Bonnie nodded, " He should be easier to move now. Can you guys carry him out yourselves?"
As it turned out carrying a two thousand year old corpse that could potentially reawaken with enough blood, was much harder than it looked. Luckily for them Caroline always over prepared and pulled out from Bonnie's backpack, a large blanket to wrap the man in, so skin to teeth contact during the trip was minimally possible.
Bonnie blinked, "When did you repack my bag?"
Caroline shrugged, "You don't want to know."
The witch narrowed her eyes, "tell me you did not set Kol on that mission to reenact a civil war battle!"
From the way her childhood friend was avoiding looking her directly in the eye, that the entire debacle was indeed her fault. Bonnie shot Kol a dirty look, but the brunette man only grinned at the Bennett witch.
"My father had a field day!" Bonnie hissed.
Kol chuckled patting her on the shoulder, "if it makes you feel better. I got scolded by the sheriff."
Bonnie blinked, "Sherriff Forbes?"
Finn looked over at his brother with no shortage of amusement in his tone, "it was a spectacular show to be sure."
Niklaus chuckled good naturedly giving Caroline a teasing grin, "I think I know where you get it form, love."
Caroline puffed her chest in pride, "Kol deserved it to," the blonde turned over to the original with an inquisitive look on her face, "where on earth did you find a civil war styled cannon?"
Kol, Niklaus and Finn answered simultaneously, "in the basement."
Bonnie sighed, "are you sure he is the one, Care?"
Niklaus glared at the insufferable witch while she stuck her tongue out at him, "get on with it. I'd rather not get another Silas message thank you very much." Mentally Niklaus remembered this was Caroline's friend, friend not food.
Friend not food, he reminded himself.
The Mikaelson men immediately went back to surrounding Silas. Together they worked to lift Silas from the cave bed, covered in emergency blankets as he was. Rebekah, Sage and Caroline walked in a perimeter to ensure no more locals intervened. Jeremy and Elena kept Bonnie company in the middle, ensuring the witch recovered from the amount of magic used. The witch rolled her eyes not bothering to remind them that they had a couple more of her magic stored into the stones in her pack. By the time they made to the side of the island they had come from, the sun was once again setting. The Mikaelson's pulled Silas onto one of the smaller boats towards the boat with the safe on board. They quickly and carefully pulled the corpse onto the ship and dumped it into the safe.
"For fuck sakes. He hasn't eaten anything in two thousand years" Kol complained stretching out his limbs once the dead weight was lifted off him. Once their small boat reached its destination. They watched as Sage and Caroline climbed aboard only to seconds later throw down several pieces of rope
"Desiccation, Kol" Finn let out an exasperated sigh as his youngest brother stuck his middle finger out at him. Finn looked over at his younger brother confused only for Kol to shake his head. Klaus sighed as he grabbed the rope tossing the rest to his brothers to begin tying.
"I can't even mock you properly, Finn. Sage you really need to help catch him up" He complained towards the redhead who was leaning down to ensure their cargo was tied safely. Jeremy once he reached the top helped Sage to pull the lump of desiccated immortal onto the ship.
"Asleep for nine hundred years Kol" Sage snapped, " Rome was not built in a day."
Elena stayed near the Salvatore's as they climbed up into the boat. Bonnie took one of her stones out, closing her eyes concentrating as the stone started to glow. Klaus and Finn lifted up the body of Silas and tossed it into the safe that Rebekah and Sage had opened. Shutting it close, Bonnie then opened her eyes and began to chant.
"It's done" Bonnie mumbled as Caroline moved to catch her, when the witch started to wobble on her feet.
"Alright there Bon?" The blonde asked, maneuvering the girl into a more comfortable position beside Stefan and Elena. The brunette immediately pulled one of their survival blankets around the witch, hovering in worry.
"I'll be fine. Securing him took a lot more out of me than I thought it would."
"Are you sure this will work?" Kol asked Caroline.
The blonde let out a soft sigh as she felt more memories return, "Yeah. I'm sure that it will."
XXX
Immediately the group set to work on getting as far away from the island as possible. The boat was allowed to drift a few hours into the ocean, just far enough that they could get back to mainland where they came, but far enough that Silas not be found. Once Bonnie had rested the witch ensured that the locks were secure and bound not to her life force as a living witch but the stones in which held her power.
Intrinsically spelled to allow no one but her or perhaps a powerful descendent, Silas would never escape. Just to extra cautious the stones would be locked into Esther's box and was safely locked away in one of the Mikaelson's millions of storage units around the world. Caroline knew it could be used to undo the magic, but until a way could be found to destroy it without risking Silas imprisonment.
Silas's safe was magically spelled to be invisible and impenetrable before they pushed it overboard all bound to Bonnie's magic stones. The entire group stood together on the giant Mikaelson boat floating a safe distance away from the island watching Silas drift further down below.
"It's finished" Elena let out a sigh of relief.
Bonnie frowned, "but still breakable" turning to Kol, " are you sure about this?"
Kol's usual jovial demeaner was absent for once, his tone grim and serious, "unless we can kill him. The only thing we can do is detain. Unless you want to give him the cure?"
Caroline shook her head, "given the cure, he will then try to take down the other side. That cannot happen." She thought furiously even if it means allowing Amara to live forever when she wishes to die.
Amara dies then Bonnie will be held to keep the balance in place. That could not happen. That was when she noticed how intently Niklaus was looking at her. He tilted his head, silently asking her to come with him. She barely noticed the subtle nods of his siblings, who suddenly started talking to the Mystic Gang.
"What's on your mind love, I thought this would free you?" He questioned pulling her into the captain's cabin using her back to close the door as he pressed their bodies together. There was nothing sexual about the intimacy, his closeness brought her comfort.
"It's not that, I can feel it in my bones. I've done at least the biggest part of why they allowed me back here" Caroline admitted, " but others still pay a price."
Niklaus kissed her forehead, "your heart is far to kind."
Caroline smiled up at him leaning into his chest, taking comfort in his familiar smell. "I can't help but think of those whose lives will be changed because of this." She could never be sure if he was really listening, yet the way his arms wrapped around her waist made her believe that either way he was there.
"Hope won't exist" She mumbled mournfully, "because…"
"I never had a one-night stand with her mother" Niklaus finished running his hand through her golden hair.
"She was amazing. You'd have been proud a true Mikaelson."
Niklaus let out a soft sigh, his hand coming out of her hair to tilt her chin up at him as his other remained tightly around her waist. "I'd never have a chance to really get to know her or raise her. You said it yourself. I die protecting her."
Caroline's eyes water, "You loved her."
Niklaus hummed, "I did. I'm sure she was an amazing addition to my family, but that path is no longer available to us. Your thinking of your own daughters Josie and Lizzie and how they won't be born either."
Caroline cried as he cradled her head into his chest, "No they won't. Alaric will remain dead."
Niklaus held her close, "go ahead and mourn, love." And mourn she did. As she cried Niklaus held her close as reality once again began to set in. How much has changed and what will never come to pass. If only she knew what was in store for them.