Apologies for the long wait for this chapter. I hope to continue the story this week.
Pairing: Pearl/Annabelle (F/f) hand
"The final act of 'Le Grand "Guignol' is upon us! Where are my players?" Mikael, Season 1 of The Originals
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Leaving Mystic Falls, Virginia
Evening
Elijah felt ill. And he never got ill, almost never. The last time has been when Niklaus had had his beloved Celeste slain in 1810. No, it was when Father had come for them on that terrible afternoon almost a century ago. Yes, it was right before that hideous production of
"Le Grand Guignol." Did Father really think that Elijah would choose Mikael over his own brother. The brother that was probably panicking right now and rightly so. Aye, Niklaus had made mistakes. But hadn't they all? Elijah always hated thinking of that night, he thought as a bump in the road shook the vehicle, snapping him out of his dark thoughts. Yet the reality was worse.
Tristan had somehow gotten the jump on him. The pretense of playing nice now destroyed. Elijah had been watching Mr. Slithers, their pet snake, in some kind of a fog. His vampire hearing picked up a cry of pain. He knew instantly that it was Miss Marshall. He vamped outside to see her beyond the gate, on the ground, holding her ankle in pain.
And he had rushed out beyond the gate, like a fool. Someone staked him from behind and shoved him into a large white truck. A lesser vampire would have perished on the spot, but Mother had taken mortality from them, as well as most of their humanity. Did they not know he could not die?
Elijah would have laughed at their clumsy attempts, but he was gagged and chained immediately. The stake must have been treated with something and he bled out of his back quickly, leaving a puddle on the floor of the truck.
Once he was bound, he couldn't fight back.
One of the black clad "security" guards, really a Strix in disguise, had threatened to "end" Hayley. They took Elijah's phone and bound him up in vervain soaked, blessed chains. They burned his skin like acid anytime he struggled, but he couldn't take his eyes off the werewolf that he had fallen for. They had thrown a cloth over her head and travelled to another stopping point to meet yet another truck. It wasn't until they had loaded in his little sister and Elena, that they untied Hayley. The dull look in Hayley's eyes told him what he should have known before. Hayley had been compelled.
They had a white oak poised at Rebekah's heart and a knife at Elena's throat. The ladies were gagged and bound as tightly as Elijah.
Where was Aya? Surely, she would not betray them. And what the hell was Tristan's plan? He certainly could not hope to survive this. Elijah heard a guard move and his mind fell into darkness as he was injected with more vervain. The last thing he felt was the burn and then nothing.
Mikaelson Mansion
Evening
Julian had forced Damon and Kol to get their things and come right back into the living room. Sage and Finn had never come back downstairs. Kol and Stefan had been banished the same. All had been placed into a deep sleep.
Aaron had stumbled into the scene and been ordered to go back to his room and say nothing.
Lucy, still tired, but now able to speak, frowned.
"Sorry," Indy whispered. "But Ava said we have to do this to save her mama."
"I know," Lucy replied. She couldn't do a spell, even if she tried. Even sitting was a struggle.
Ava turned, "Lucy, you have to help us. Bad people took Mama, maybe because of me. And my Dad and Uncle E. won't come back if we don't go. You can feel that, can't you?"
Lucy centered herself. As she had mentioned to Aaron, intuition was the most important thing. She closed her eyes, struggling to stay awake. She felt it now, too.
"Yes, children," Lucy said. "You may be correct. But we don't even know where to go or how to get there."
"No, we do. I found the maps and papers. See?" Ava said, putting out a folded file folder from her kitty backpack.
Ava had taken the maps that had been abandoned on Elijah's desk and stuffed them into her things. She was upset to realize that her stuffies wouldn't fit, but sacrifices had to be made.
Damon came down and dropped a leather bag to the floor. He indicated his mouth.
"Child, let him speak," Lucy encouraged. "I do feel it and see that you have to go. I will help you, but you must get Damon and Kol to agree. This won't work otherwise."
Ava nodded, a bit apprehensively. Damon was usually pretty nice to her, but she didn't spend much time with him.
"Okay, Julian. Let him talk, but if he started to yell, stop him," Ava demanded, eyeing his cousin.
"I'm getting tired, Ava. This is usually our bedtime," Julian said before going to compel Damon with his mind control power.
Damon sighed, "Finally! Ava, this whole plan is ludicrous. Even if we all survive, Dad will freaking kill me if I bring you. Do you understand that?"
"If we don't go, we'll all be dead anyway. Well, Daddy will be trapped, Uncle E. and Auntie Bex, too," Ava said with confidence. "Damon, I don't know how I know, but I can feel it. Can't you?"
Damon's mouth twisted. He looked at Lucy for help.
"Damon, I think Ava is right. Elijah and Klaus' plans were weak. They need Ava there. She can siphon away any spell or any supernatural. With all of us there, we have a fighting chance. Plus, Julian can control us with his voice," Lucy reasoned.
Damon fumed, he didn't like being manipulated. He was the one used to being in control, well, until he had come to live here.
Kol vamped down with his things.
"Julian," Ava pressed.
Julian allowed Kol to speak.
"Isn't this the tables blithin' turning?" Kol spat. "You kids are in for the hidin' of your lives, I'll tell ya that! You're damn lucky I can't put the three of you over my knee right now."
Indy whimpered and Lucy pulled the child to her. She was tired and had stopped warping reality, but it had taken a toll on her.
Damon shook his head.
"Kol, please don't threaten them. They are scared and trying to help. I know they are kids, but they have some darn good points," Lucy corrected, rubbing Indy's back soothingly.
Kol frowned and knelt down to pick up Indy.
"Sorry, lass. I am angry and...frightened. They have your papa and our sister. He would not want you all to do this," Kol explained gently.
Indy whimpered and buried her head in his shoulder.
"We can't stand her all night arguing. It's clear that we are not in control here-," Damon ranted.
"Kol, Damon," Lucy said carefully. "I know this is unpleasant and uncomfortable, but I really think you two need to get on board here. If we can focus and work together, maybe we can get everyone home safe after all?"
Damon chewed on his thumbnail.
"I don't like it," Damon went on. "But I guess you're right. I had a bad feeling about this from the start. I say we get going and then split like we were planning to, Kol. I'll head to that cottage to find my dad with Ava. You crash the gala and get Elijah out."
"I don't know, Damon. I'm the one who got the witches trapped in the Fauline Cottage in the first place. What if we all headed there first?" Kol asked with a smirk.
"Yeah, whatever. We have about fifteen hours to figure it out. Now, let me see those maps," Damon demanded, taking them off of Lucy. He was oddly starting to feel more confident. These children were clearly powerful.
Ava squinted at him.
"So you are with us?" Ava wondered.
"Aye, I think we are," Kol replied stiffly. "Damon, what say you?"
"I think we should take one of the SUVs," Damon said, looking over the route. "And yeah, we're with you, but from now on, you follow our lead. Got it, squirt?"
Ava smiled shyly and nodded.
"Yes, Damon," Ava said. "But if you are lying, we'll find a way to go without the two of you grown ups."
"I don't think she is playing," Lucy said. "Now, my gut is saying we should leave right now."
"Nah, I daresay none of them are playing," Kol agreed. "Now, you all best use the loo before we leave. I'll grab some coolers for snacks and blood. Wherever Bekah is, I hope they are feeling. She gets very cranky when she is hungry."
"I'll leave a note for the others," Damon acquiesced. "And Kol, don't forget that grimoire. You know, the one you told me about."
"Aye, I wish I could," Kol said, patting his bag. "I have it. Don't forget the dark objects, though I wager that Niklaus took all the good ones..."
Lucy helped Indy stand up. "Did you kids pack your toothbrushes and some changes of underwear?" Lucy inquired.
Julian shook his head. "I forgot, but I brought lots of socks. I don't like having cold feet."
Lucy said, "I'll go up with them and check the others, but they seemed comatose. I don't think they will be awake soon. Ten minutes until we leave?"
Lucy was still dressed in her date clothes and her feet already hurt. She wondered if Rebekah or Sage had anything that would fit her.
"Make it five," Damon said. "I'll call Bonnie to bring the others here. We can't leave them defenseless right now."
Undetermined Location
Their captors didn't feed them blood, but did take off their gags and hoods and gave them a few sips of water. Elijah had tried to listen carefully and gauge their direction, but even he got disoriented with the hood on. Hayley was gone.
"You will let us go," Rebekah said, trying to compel the dark garbed guard.
He snickered, "Vervain, Miss. We inject it now. You can't mess with our heads. Just drink the water and shut up."
Elijah took the water and drank, wondering if it was drugged. His throat was dry and it made him cough. He thought about how he would dismember Tristan de Martel. Slowly? No, rather he would hand him over to Niklaus. He had experience with such things for which Elijah was grateful.
"Where are you taking us?" Elena croaked, her eyes terrified.
"Why to Tristan de Martel, of course. Mr. Mikaelson has a ball to get to," another guard informed them.
"I was thinking that Tristan would send the jet," Elijah said lightly. "He was rather proud of it when I last spoke to him."
"Oh, he has the plane waiting, sir," the first guard informed them. "For you, anyway."
Elijah's eyes met Rebekah's. He hated to use their wild card, but he didn't know where they were taking Rebekah. He couldn't bear the thought of them taking her away.
"Tell the Count de Martel that we have his lovely sister, Aurora," Elijah offered. "And if he locks us away, he'll never find her. Or at least all of her. Our people have their instructions, too."
"You can tell him that yourself. Soon enough," the second guard hissed, before gagging Elijah again tightly. Then, he threw the hood over his head and all Elijah saw was darkness. But this time his vampire senses smelled the acrid scent of sweat. Those guards weren't as calm and cool as they pretended. Yes, they were afraid and rightly so.
Gilbert Residence
Bonnie wiped away a tear as she pulled away from Jeremy. They were in the living room of the house on the couch. The teen was trembling, whether from shock, fear, or anger, Bonnie couldn't tell. Maybe a combination of all three.
"They will get them back. You'll see. Lucy is over at the house now," Bonnie said, her own voice wavering. The fear was cold in the pit of her stomach. The Strix had taken her friends out of the locker room. Only Bonnie's magic had allowed the lone witness, an elderly custodian, who had hidden in the closet, to recount what she had seen.
"You don't know that for sure, Bonnie!" Jeremy retorted.
April had been sitting with Jenna, who had to be sedated.
Ric came in carrying a box.
"Hey, don't talk to Bonnie like that!" Ric snapped. "She's trying to help!"
Jeremy looked down and swiped away the tears.
"I'm sorry, Bon. I j-just can't lose her, too," Jeremy stammered.
Bonnie patted his knee.
"I know," Bonnie shared. "Ric, where were you?"
"I may have found something," Ric said. "Jer, remember all the stuff we found at the Lake House. You know, from Johnathan Gilbert?"
Jeremy cleared his throat. What the hell was Ric blabbing about?
"Yeah, but who cares about that crap now? We have to do something," Jeremy moaned, standing up unsteadily.
"Listen, kiddo," Ric said. "In one of the diaries, he talks about some device. A watch or something. I did some digging. I wish I had more time because there is a lot more in here. I think it could help, but we are going to need Tyler's help."
Bonnie checked her phone.
"He and Caroline went back to the Lockwood mansion. Ric, do you think that device is there? What does it do?" Bonnie inquired, glancing from Ric to Jeremy.
"I'm not sure exactly, maybe it disables vampires. But we also might need Mason's help. I think this thing is in the archives," Ric explained.
"Okay, let me take care of this," Bonnie said, standing. Ric, give me the journal and I'll see if we can find out more on the way over."
"We?" Ric asked nervously.
"Jeremy is losing his mind here. Unless you want to call Dr. Fell back to get Jeremy a shot also, he needs to do something," Bonnie clarified.
"No, you're right. I need to check on Jenna," Ric said. "But promise me you won't do anything crazy."
"Promise," Bonnie said, grabbing Jeremy's hoodie and pushing it into his hands. "You can trust us."
Founder's Hall
Tyler coughed and then sneezed as he lifted the old box from the basement of the old building.
"This is where my mom kept all the stuff from the Founder's Day party," Tyler said roughly. "I know 'cause I had to help put all this shit back. Are you sure that thing is in here?"
Bonnie bit her lip, but Caroline was more confident
"No, but from the diary's description of the object, I am sure I remember seeing something like that in that glass case. I remember because Matt said it looked expensive and we should bust it open," Caroline reported.
Matt shook his head and threw up his hands at Tyler, who glared at him.
"I never said that, man!" Matt defended.
"You totally did," Bonnie reminded him. Caroline rolled her eyes at Matt's antics.
"Here, Ty, let me carry that! At this rate, Elena is going to have to save herself. Gimme it!"
Tyler grunted as Caroline wrestled the heavy box from him. He had to face the truth that she was stronger than him now. She was also much bossier.
Mason yelled down the dusty stairs.
"Did you find it? The guard needs to lock up now,"Mason called.
"Coming up," Tyler said.
The teens tore open the box and dug until Bonnie found what looked like a gold pocket watch.
"Is that it?" Jeremy asked, he was still pale. The adrenaline that had coursed through him earlier had turned into dread.
"Yeah, look! It matches the sketch in the journal exactly," Bonnie gushed. "What else is hiding in plain site around here?"
Mason patted Jeremy on the shoulder and asked how he was holding up.
"Hanging in there," Jeremy said weakly. "Bonnie, what now?"
Bonnie blinked, "We hand it over. Um, Lucy is going with the Mikaelsons to New Orleans."
"We can't trust them to use an anti-vampire object on themselves," Jeremy yelled. "It could kill them all."
"I'm going to go wash my hands," Caroline said quietly.
Mason and Tyler exchanged looks.
"I hate to say it, but he's right," Tyler agreed.
"No, he's wrong. Look, they will get Elena back," Mason argued. "It's in their best interest to do so."
"Just because you two are both dating vamps, doesn't make them all saints!" Jeremy heaved.
Bonnie was holding the device, trying to gauge any residual magic in it.
"Jeremy, aren't you with Anna? You know, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," Bonnie pointed out. "I can feel there is something here. Whatever this device is, it's infused with magic. Strong magic."
"Bonnie, we need to go with them," Jeremy begged.
"Lucy would never let me go," Bonnie said.
"You are just as strong as she is, if not stronger," Jeremy hissed. "And Elena is your best friend."
"Whoa, kids, you're not going anywhere," Mason said, trying to calm everyone down. "Now, let's follow the plan and get that to the Mikaelson place."
"I have a better idea," Katherine quipped, emerging from the shadows. She wore her tightest leather pants and a silky red blouse. "You give me that little do-dad and I'll take it over."
Bonnie's eyes narrowed.
"What is she doing here? No way. It's ours," Bonnie said in alarm, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.
"She works here," Mason said evenly. "But Katherine, that's a Gilbert device. It's not ours."
"Oh, I remember when my Emily, your ancestor, Bonnie, made that for Johnathan Gilbert. That stupid fool thought he was responsible, but he was a dolt. It's mine now," Katherine growled.
Bonnie pocketed the device and raised her hands.
"She wasn't your Emily," Bonnie hollered in anger. But before Bonnie could cast a pain spell, she was thrown back. A trio of witches in dark robes surrounded Bonnie.
"What the hell, man?" Matt cried out as his limps turned to water and he collapsed, Tyler falling beside him. Jeremy stumbled to a crouch before losing consciousness.
"Kathy, what's happening?" Mason demanded, as he faltered to the floor.
Katherine grimaced, stepping over their bodies. She fished the device out of Bonnie's pocket and put it in her own. "Don't hurt him. He has great abs, or the kids either. Take the witch. Oh, and there is another vampire in the bathroom. Watch out for her."
The witches nodded and one went to subdue Caroline.
Katherine leaned over and kissed Mason on the lips.
"I really did like you," Katherine whispered in his ear as he struggled to stay awake, "but there is someone else who can do more for me..."
Salvatore Boarding House
Night
"You are not leaving this house," Pearl said calmly.
Stefan had gotten the call that something was wrong and had left abruptly. Since then, Annabelle had been trying to contact Jeremy with no luck. She had considered sneaking out, but Pearl had caught her trying to leave. Annabelle had never been a great liar, especially when Pearl was questioning her.
"But I have to! Something is wrong. I can just feel it," Annabelle blurted out.
"In a moment, you are going to feel my hand on your behind if you do not march up to bed," Pearl warned, as Harper's eyes grew wide. He really detested conflict and got up to go freshen Miss Pearl's tea.
"Mother! I am not a child, dammit," Annabelle wailed in frustration. She didn't realize that she had stamped her foot and made fists of her hands, just as she did before throwing a fit as a child.
Pearl vamped to her daughter, knowing that a tantrum was going to erupt. Annabelle found herself staring at the floor as Pearl sat on the settee and forced her over her lap.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Annabelle's anger didn't allow her to feel the smacks peppering the seat of her pants, nor did the impromptu punishment dim her resolve. Something was wrong.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"Mother! Stop it," Annabelle finally yelled out, as the cracks reverberated in the large library.
"You do not tell me what to do. Now, are you going to be a good girl and listen?" Pearl demanded, punctuating each word with a solid whack.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"NO!" Annabelle screeched. She tried to gain purchase on the carpet to let herself up, but Pearl launched her forward and doubled down on her assault of Annabelle's hind end.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
"What's going on?" Vicki gasped, coming down to see what all the racket is.
"Miss Annabelle is getting a spanking and going to bed early," Pearl heaved. "Is that not right, miss?"
Annabelle burst into tears of frustration and rage.
She looked and saw Vicki tapping her foot. She kept silent a beat later and Pearl swatted her behind hard again.
Whack!
"Well?" Pearl prodded.
Vicki cleared her throat. "Annabelle, come on. I need your help with that thing we talked about."
"What thing?" Pearl asked, still holding on tight to her daughter.
"Nothing. Just a surprise I was working on," Vicki fibbed.
Something in Vicki's voice made Annabelle tear her eyes from the floor and look up. Vicki nodded up the stairs. Something was going on.
"I'm s-sorry, Mama," Annabelle said, fighting to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "I-I'll go to b-bed now. I a-am sure everything is f-fine."
Pearl sighed in relief, shaking out her hand.
"Good. I trust we shall have no more nonsense tonight," Pearl stated. "I love you, but I will not have you running after young men at all hours. You hear me?"
"Y-Yes, ma'am," Annabelle stuttered out, her bottom now feeling the sting from the spanking.
Pearl helped her up and kissed her daughter on the head.
"Go on up, girls. I am going to check on Harper, strife upsets him. Then, I have some work to finish up in the greenhouse. I do love you," Pearl said firmly. "That tis why I must watch out for you now. You are not on your own anymore. Do you understand?"
"Love you, too," Annabelle said, not answering the question. She was making fists now to avoid rubbing her hot seat. She didn't want to give her mother the satisfaction that she could make her obey with a simple hand spanking.
Vicki again motioned that they needed to go up.
She mouthed, "Hurry up!"
Annabelle did break down and rub as she trotted up the stairs following Vicki. What in the world was more important than Jeremy going missing?
