Pairing: Mason/Katherine (M/F) hand

Darkness prompt for Chanelle

"'Oh, that? I never thought it was eavesdropping, Aslan. Wasn't it magic?'
'Spying on people by magic is the same as spying on them in any other way.'" ― C. S. Lewis

Monday, April 9, 2012

Mikaelson Mansion

Mystic Falls, Virginia

Evening

"Let's pretend we are fairies! They fly," Indy whispered, tickling Ava.

Ava had been stroking the burnt part of her face. It was better. It didn't hurt as much, but at times it still itched and felt tight.

Julian was already snoring, but Indy seemed wide-awake. It was hard for her to shut her active imagination down after such an exciting day.

Ava nudged Indy, saying, "No, we'll get in trouble. It will be too loud and we might break something."

They had had a close call the night before when they were using the slide after bedtime and Klaus came in to say goodnight. Julian had said they fell out of bed, and Klaus pretended to believe them. He was often much less strict than Elijah and Sage when it came to bedtime.

"I kinda want to go see the horse again," Indy admitted.

"No way," Ava repeated, loud enough to disturb Julian's slumber.

"What's going on?" Julian stirred.

"Nothing. Go back to sleep," Ava said. The room was dimmed, but Elijah had left the bathroom light on with the door cracked to let a sliver of light through.

"You're no fun," Indy grumbled.

"I'm tired," Ava lied. In truth, she had been trying to figure out what was going on with the adults. If she took off her necklace, she could do a listening spell. But the last time she took it off and got caught snooping, she'd gotten a spanking. Ava wanted until she heard Indy's soft snores before getting up.

Andrei and Ioana, the dogs, were even fast asleep. If Ava was going to find out what was happening, she had to go now. The nine year old carefully tiptoed out of the large bedroom, careful not to step on the dogs' tails or trip on any toys.

Outside of the Armory

Night

Dorian picked up Emma down the street from the large compound.

"Oh hey," Emma breathed, clutching her sleek leather bag and looking behind her anxiously. "Anyone see you?"

"I don't think so," Dorian replied. He couldn't help but admire the beautiful witch's visage. Emma was of Indian descent and wore her glossy black hair around her shoulders. They were just friends, but Dorian couldn't deny that she was a very attractive lady.

"Good. I don't think they are on to me. There has been a lot of activity around the Armory these last few days. Did you share the plan with the others?" Emma asked, getting a water bottle out of her bag. All of this sneaking around and the possible ramifications made her mouth go dry. If she got caught by the Strix...well, she didn't want to think about that.

Dorian made a turn onto the main road.

"Yeah, um, as to the plan," Dorian begun, "it's a no good. Klaus won't let the siphon be used. In his defense, she's a little kid and has been through a lot..."
Emma almost choked on her water. "But without a siphon, we can't get to the vault."

Dorian swallowed. "It seems that Elijah has made a deal with Aya. She's going to get you the charter. All you have to do is give it to me, then your part of this is done. I don't want to endanger you anymore than I already have."

Emma let out a long breath. "Fine. But after this, I don't even know if I can go back there. You got out. Maybe I can, too?"

"I was a low-level grunt in the organization," Dorian explained. "You are a witch with a much high security clearance. I think your absence would be noted. If you just give it another week, then Elijah promised that the Strix would be gone. I might even return, with a big promotion, I should add."

Emma smiled wryly. "You've changed Dorian. I never knew you to make nice with vampires. But I guess I can hang on another few days. What's the new plan?"
"Come on. I'm taking you to the mansion. They want to meet with you," Dorian said, heading to the Mikaelson Mansion. "It's time."

Attic

Mikaelson Mansion

Kol waited as Damon got himself together. He was trying to have the younger man levitate some books.

"They are just too damn heavy!" Damon complained as he failed to lift the books even an inch.

"Damon, I've told you before. That does not matter. You have to focus. Come now, repeat the spell," Kol coaxed, sliding the ancient grimoire back over the makeshift table they were using. It was an old truck filled things from Greta's magical stores.

Damon grunted and tried again. This time shaking the books, but still not lifting them.

"That tis better," Kol said encouragingly. "Remember, it tis your intention that makes things happen, not the spell. Our mother got to the point where she did not even have to speak words to lift something, she just willed it to happen. You have her power and more."

Damon wiped some sweat from his brow and bit his lip.

"Wow, that's kind of wild. You guys don't talk about your mom much. I know your dad was a dick, but what was she like?" Damon inquired, sitting back on a dusty crate.

Kol smirked, "She was brilliant, but guarded, I suppose. There was always plenty to do on the farm. When the old man was away, raiding, she was happier. But when he was around, we all had to avoid his wroth. I never understood why she put up with him. Maybe she loved who he had been, before. I do not know, but they both changed after Henrik died..."
"Henrik? He was your your younger brother?" Damon asked.

"Aye, the babe of the family. Only a lad of twelve when the wolves got him. Niklaus was bereft. And Mother, being the strongest witch in the world, could not bring him back," Kol said sadly, lost for a moment in his memories.

"But why? You said your magic came in early. Wasn't he a witch also?" Damon prodded.

Kol bit his lip and walked to the small attic window, looking out into the dark night. The lights were outside the new stables that sheltered Damon's horse.
"Aye, but it had not manifested yet," Kol said. "It was horrific. Father was beside himself. He blamed Niklaus, but also the wolves. He went to their village and slew all he could find. But that was after...we were turned."

"So your mom never tried to bring him back? You know, in case, he was on the Other Side?" Damon pressed. If Stefan died, he would do anything to save him. Anything.

"We were not alone in this New World. Ayana came also. She was my mother's best friend and the one who knew of these lands. Ayana was a healer and a prophet. She could commune with the Ancestors," Kol explained. "She told my mother that the spirits would not do it. 'Esther, there is no way.' I remember hearing her say that, but Mother found a way to 'save' the rest of us, I suppose. Ayana was right when she said that the Spirits would turn on her."

"And here we are, immortal blood drinkers," Damon added sarcastically. "A plague of nature. Maybe someone should have listened to this lady."
"Aye," Kol agreed. "Now, try the spell again. Then, you may retire. I do have school tomorrow you know."
"Ugh, fine," Damon replied, stretching. He shut his eyes and concentrated.

Damon focused on lifting the books, but he got distracted by thoughts of blood lust and spirits. The bare bulb burning above them shattered and the property went dark.

"Shit," Damon groaned.

"I think you blew a fuse!" Kol answered, looking back out the window and seeing nothing but pure blackness.

"But did I lift the books?" Damon asked eagerly.

"No," Kol replied. "Come on, let's make sure everyone is alright."

***
Stairs

Ava froze on the stairs. She had been listening. She quickly put her necklace back on as she stumbled down to the partially opened door in the darkness.

She made her way into the hallway and felt along the wall, intending on going back to her room. But then she heard the cry.

***
Damon's Bedroom

Enzo had been reading on the couch, waiting for Damon to be finished with his magic. Rebekah had given him some Jane Austen novel from one of her school classes, but Enzo's reading skills were still poor. Plus, it sounded dull to him. Damon had given him a box of old comics that he had found while cleaning out the garage. Enzo liked The Adventures of Superman the best. He still stumbled through some of the words, but the pictures helped him get the meaning. Enzo didn't want Lucy to know how ill-educated he was...Where is the devil was Damon? They had been practicing witchcraft since after supper. Enzo yawned and was able to go check the attic when the bedroom was plunged into inky darkness.

"Bloody hell," Enzo hissed, dropping the comic book on the carpeting. As his heart beat loud in his chest, Enzo waited for the lights to come back on. Enzo realized he had dropped the book and went to pick it up. He heard something in the hallway. Were they coming for him? The Augustines? Would they return him to his cell? Enzo crouched on the floor with his arms around his knees, shaking.

This was it, it was over...Enzo wept into his knees as the darkness envelopes him.

Hallway

Ava made it back to her bedroom. She opened the door and found the room quiet, but dark. She started to retreat back to bed when the door opened behind her, waking one of the dogs.

"Sweetheart? Why are you out of bed?"a voice asked quietly. Ava turned and saw the shadow of Klaus.

"Oh, bad dream! I thought I heard someone yell," Ava answered.

"Oh. I will check it out. Back to bed now. Can you see?" Klaus asked.

Ava's werewolf vision allowed her to navigate back to the bottom bunk with the twins slept entwined.

"Yes, I'm good," Ava said, as she climbed in. "What happened? The lights went out."

"I am looking into it. I'm sure it tis nothing," Klaus said. "Good night."

Klaus heard a sound and vamped out of the room. Was it coming from Damon's room?
Damon's Room

Enzo shuddered as he found himself back in his cell. He could feel the sharp scalpel slicing into his skin already. So many cuts, over and over. The pain the only thing that was real. The clink of the metal instruments and then the howling. Sometimes he didn't realize it was him screaming. They mostly came for him in the mornings, but sometimes they woke him. Then, they would cut and burn and inject him...It lasted for eons, he thought it would never end. His screams and pleas never moved the scientists. They simply wrote down his reactions first in notebooks and then as the decades passed, on computers.

"Enzo!" Klaus called out.

Enzo whimpered from the floor.

"Oh good gods, did you fall?" Klaus demanded, trying to pull him up. But Enzo was rocking, his face hidden.

"Ahhhhh," Enzo moaned.

Klaus knelt and put his arms around the vampire he now considered a son.

"Shhh, you are safe. I'm sure it is just an outage. Probably some fool wrecked into a power line whilst drunk," Klaus murmured. "You are shaking!"
Enzo finally looked up. "I thought they were coming for me...they sometimes came for me in the darkness. I never knew when."

"Who would be so bold?" Klaus announced. "If they come for you, they would have to get through me. And I am the most frightening thing in the darkness: the big, bad wolf."

Enzo smiled at that through his tears. "Aye, you are. Where's Damon? Is he okay?"
Klaus pulled Enzo up, he kept an arm around him and pulled out his cell phone with his free hand, switching on the light.

"Let's go see, shall we?" Klaus said.

Hallway

"I thought we had a generator," Damon muttered as he and Enzo got back down to the second floor.

Elijah came out of his room.

"We do. It takes a few minutes to come on," Elijah replied. And with that, the lights came back on. "See? Like clockwork. Dare I ask what happened?"
Kol gulped. "I think I pushed him too hard..."

Klaus came out with his arm still around Enzo.

"Oh, there you all are," Klaus said. "Is everything alright?"

"Ah yeah, sorry," Damon said sheepishly. "I lost focus during a spell."
Klaus exhaled. "Oh, that's better than the Strix attacking us. Elijah, will you check on the fusebox. Enzo here had quite a scare."
Klaus didn't want to leave the trembling younger vampire.

Damon looked concerned, "Whoa, what happened, Enzo?"
Enzo shook his head and wiped at his face. "Nothing."

Kol said he'd go with Elijah, but Elijah said he had school and he had this handled.

"Fine," Kol said, heading into the bedroom he now shared solely with Stefan. It looked like Enzo was staying with Damon from now on.

Damon patted Enzo's arm.

"You sure that you're okay, man? You look pale and kinda shaky," Damon observed.

"Damon, why don't you take him into your room and fix him a glass of blood. I'll be into say goodnight. Dorian's car just pulled in," Klaus said, his hybrid hearing picking up the sound.

"Yeah, okay," Damon started. "But I think he needs something stronger than blood."

Klaus gave him a stern look.

"I said you can have wine with dinner. That's all. Now, do I need to put you to bed with a smarting backside or are you going to obey me?" Klaus growled.

Damon grabbed Enzo and turned him around.

"It wasn't my fault...Jeez," Damon snarked.

Slap!

"Ouch. Fuck," Damon winced. Klaus really had a swing on him, but it did cause Enzo to laugh.

Klaus whacked Damon's jean covered behind and then vamped downstairs to meet Dorian.

Lockwood Mansion

"Oh, Mason, it still reeks in here," Katherine commented, as she followed him to his bedroom.

"Yeah, I know," Mason conceded. "They put in some more powerful fans, but the damage will take a while to clean up. Plus, I don't think we got all the frogs yet..."

"Well, I hope you really gave it to those boys," Katherine went on. "I'm not even sure I can stay here."
Mason raised his eyebrows at Katherine, not surprised by her angst.

"Oh, I can just see you tomorrow at work then," Mason said blithely, calling her bluff.

"Oh no, you're not going to get rid of me that easily. I did come here for a reason," Katherine giggled, patting his backside.

"You are shameless. And keep it down, the boys are sleeping," Mason urged, opening the door to his brother and sister-in-law's suite.

Katherine pushed Mason on the bed and straddled him.

"We should throw a party. Not here, of course, with that smell," Katherine said, after kissing him. "But maybe at Founder's Hall. We'll let everyone know who is in charge around here."

Katherine extended her fangs and lightly nibbled on Mason's neck.
"That would be you," Mason intoned, groaning as Katherine knew right where to kiss him.

"Ha, you are correct. You know, if I could just figure out what was going on with the Mikaelsons, I would feel better. My guy said there is a lot of activity-," Katherine began.

Mason flipped Katherine so he was on top.

"Kathy! You promised that you were done spying on them. What they are doing is no concern of ours," Mason pleaded.

Katherine rolled her eyes, as she popped the buttons of his white dress shirt.

"I never really...promised," Katherine stated, her face going back to its usual pallor.

Mason's eyes narrowed, "Yes, you did, little lady. Don't make me spank you, too! I'll give it to you worse than I did the boys for their little prank."
"Oh, you will, huh?" Katherine snarked.

Mason got off of Katherine and flipped her face down on the bed. His large hand cracking against her tight black skirt.

"Ow!" Katherine grunted. "Stop teasing me."
Mason yanked the slit of the skirt, ripping the seam.

"I can tear your clothes off you, too," Mason warned. His breath caught when he saw the lacy black thong and garters she had on. He massaged the creamy globes of her behind a moment before swatting her again harder.

Crack!A handprint appeared and then quickly faded.

"Ohhhh," Katherine exhaled. "Harder!"

Mason said huskily, "Be careful what you wish for. Are you going to keep your promise and forget about Elijah Mikaelson and his family?"
"I don't know. Am I?" Katherine teased.

Mason held down Katherine with his left hand as he started to spank her behind with his right hand.

Whack! Crack! Slap!

"Ah! Oh! Oh my, Mason," Katherine exclaimed, wiggling under his discipline.

"Are you?" Mason demanded.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Katherine tried to push herself up, but felt Mason's werewolf strength stopping her.

"OHhhhhhh, M-Mason, stop!" Katherine pleaded as she started to feel the fiery burn intensify.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"When you promise," Mason ordered, swatting her sit spots firmly.

"Ouch! Not there...Okay, I won't meddle!" Katherine finally promised as tears started to leak down her checks.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"I need to be sure cause next time, I'm not just going to use my hand," Mason threatened, flipping her over so her burning backside was down on the bed.

"I won't!" Katherine said as she went to unbuckled his belt, pulling it loose. "Just don't use this on me..."

"Oh, but I will," Mason said gruffly, undoing his dress pants. "And you won't like it so well, missy. Now, who's the boss?"
"Me!" Katherine shrieked with a laugh as Mason's lips met hers. He slapped the side of her bottom with his hand until their conversation was abandoned for other activities.

Mikaelson Mansion

Ava huddled at the top of the stairs, listening. The adults were having tea and talking in the living room. They were talking about New Orleans and some kind of trip Uncle Elijah was taking...She tugged on her braid and tugged a piece of the colorful ribbon that had come loose back in. Sage was always very kind about doing her hair like she used to have it fixed back at the Traveler camp. Indy liked the ribbons, too.

"And why are you out of bed, young lady?" Ava held a voice. It was Finn.

"Oh, I can't sleep. Um,...Papa was supposed to put me back to bed but he never came back up. Can I go say goodnight?" Ava said. She felt a little odd about calling Uncle Nik "Papa", but hadn't he said he was going to take care of her now?

Before Ava could think more about it, Finn scooped her up.

"I suppose a quick good night won't hurt," Finn said, lifting her on his big shoulders.

Ava held on to him as he bounded down the stairs.

"Oh, we have another visitor," Elijah said, putting down the tea pot he was holding.

"Ava? Still can't sleep, luv? Well, this is Miss Stone," Klaus said, getting up. "And you know Mr. Williams, of course."

"Hi," Ava said, as Finn put her down.

Elijah introduced Finn to Emma and they shook hands.

"So nice to meet you, Ava," Emma said, offering her hand.

Ava took it and Emma gasped, sipping her tea.

"Emma, are you alright?" Dorian asked, leaning over to mop up the tea with a linen napkin.

"Oh, my," Emma said, recovering. "Yes, I'm so sorry..."

Elijah eyed the witch, knowing that something had occurred.

"Ah, Finn, why don't you take Ava and get her some warm milk?" Elijah suggested.

Finn nodded and took the little girl by the hand out of the room. No one noticed that Ava had removed the charm from her necklace.

"What was that?" Dorian asked.

Emma, her eyes still wide. "I think I know where her mother is...It's a prison for witches...An old house, a trap of sorts. She is being guarded by other witches. Old ones."
Dorian cleared his throat. "Emma is not just any witch. She is a seer. What else did you see, Emma?"

"A fence with...a doll's head on it!" Emma gasped, feeling an icy chill go through her bones.

"The Fauline Cottage," Klaus responded dryly. "Ava's mum is in New Orleans and I don't see how we can ever get her out."

"But you must. It's a terrible place," Emma went on. "I felt it...We have to go there and get her out. Before it is too late."

Dorian got up and put a hand on Emma's shoulder.

"Is there anyway?" Dorian asked.

"Not without asking the French Quarter coven," Klaus confided. "And they don't like us much."
"That's an understatement," Elijah grumbled.

"Unless we could give them something in return," Klaus proposed. "Something they would love to have control over..."
"Like what? They would love to use you as a pin cushion," Elijah said, pouring Emma more tea. It steamed as it pooled in the delicate tea cup.

"Like the Trinity?" Klaus offered, sitting back and putting his foot on the coffee table.

"But that's madness," Elijah said. "My plan aims for the Trinity to be locked inside the Serraturra, as they planned to imprison us inside."
"Yes, but think of it, Elijah," Klaus went on. "They could still draw on the magical energies of the Trinity, even within the device. It could work."
"You would do all this just to save that little girl's mother?" Dorian asked in shock.

"Aye, Ava is part of our family now. I vowed to her that I would do everything in my power to save her mum," Klaus said with feeling. "It could be a win-win situation."
"Or it could end in tragedy and destruction," Elijah mused dryly.

"Elijah, you have no imagination. Emma, once you get the charter, you can accompany me to New Orleans," Klaus said.

Elijah frowned, "No, Brother, it is too dangerous. If they sense you in the city, the covens will unite to expel you or worse. I demand you stay here."

"Elijah, be sensible. You know you cannot keep me from your side. You need me, Brother," Klaus said firmly.

"And Ava," Emma said softly. "She could siphon the spell from the house. It might be the only way to get through the magical barrier."
"No, I cannot allow it," Klaus retorted hotly. He softened, "I'm sorry, Miss Stone, but I see her as my daughter. I cannot let her be put in danger."
"Of course," Emma replied. "I can use my connections and see if we could get a meeting with the Regent of the Nine covens. They speak to the Ancestors and could perhaps intercede if the French Quarter coven won't see you."

"Oh, I hope they won't see me coming," Klaus laughed. "Not until it's too late. Just like the big, bad wolf..."