Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries, and a lot of dialogue was taken from the show for this chapter and the following chapters. Sorry for grammar errors, spelling errors, etc…
A/N: (6/23/2021) If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! Admittedly, I didn't have a solid plan for how many installments Season 4 would have, but it's looking like 6 total.
Hope you enjoy!
In this chapter: Sophia tries to call off the search for the cure and catches up with an old friend.
Warning: Canon typical violence.
Season 4: Dark Reunion (Part 3)
"Hey, um, I'm sorry for being so pissy earlier. As it turns out, it might be a good thing that you weren't able to make it today."
Sophia frowned. Caroline had thrown a mild - for her - hissy fit over Sophia shuffling off her Winterland Wonderland duties in the town square that day.
"Is everything okay?"
"Ah, no, everything is not okay. My boyfriend is a dumbass martyr and has something insane planned, and-" Caroline paused. " Nevermind. Ignore me, you have your own thing going on."
Sophia did indeed have her own thing going on that day, but her interest was piqued. "Hey, I'm here for moral support more than anything, and it's not a long drive back to-"
"No!" Caroline huffed a laugh. "You- Your family needs you. It's just - just crazy hybrid antics. I'll let you know how everything plays out later, good luck with Jeremy and Elena. Bye."
"Good...bye." Sophia's eyebrows were creased as the call ended. Caroline had hung up before she could finish saying bye.
The mention of hybrids left Sophia with a decent clue as to what Caroline was worried about.
Due to the old soul's penchant for catching Klaus's eye, she had been inadvertently more caught up in the hybrid liberation front than she initially would have wanted to be. Last she heard from Caroline, Tyler had nearly gotten them all unsired. Logistically, they would now be concerned with how to get away from Klaus. How they were going to pull that one off was anyone's guess.
Despite how the hybrids had kidnapped and threatened to kill herself, Elena, and Caroline just last weekend due to some infighting power struggle, she honestly wished the best for them.
For the most part.
Well, she didn't wish them death.
Sophia reminded herself that she reaped what she sowed when it came to the hybrids and that their frustration was, or rather, should have been expected.
Klaus was markedly less charming and patient with those who didn't wear the face of a first love who died tragically in his arms during his formative years. Even then, his admittedly softer touch with her included his best efforts to make her the last Gilbert standing.
The hybrids' ancient and sadistic sire, who was not famously known for his diplomacy, abused their unnatural and unearned loyalty to him. Really, only Tyler was looking out for them. All put together, it would cause the best of people to shirk their moral compass.
Sophia certainly didn't have a halo to brag about.
In an effort to rescue Elena when she was suffering the brunt of the hunter's curse, she had asked Klaus for help with the hope that he had someone in mind to sacrifice on behalf of her family. To add salt to the wound, it had been a hybrid who had gone out of his way to help her sister. Too caught up with herself, and prioritizing her own family's wellbeing, Sophia never took the time to examine her part in his death. She had instigated it, had thanked Klaus for it.
If I had to, I would do it all over again, Sophia acknowledged to herself. It had been her best option with the information she had at the time, and now, her cross to bear.
Christ. Maybe she did deserve to die the night the hybrids kidnapped her.
Fortunately, the hybrids were much more cohesive now that they accepted Tyler as their alpha.
Sophia tried to tell herself that if Klaus wanted to be in the business of siring a new species, then it was on him to deal with the consequences.
Concern gnawed at her despite herself. Concern for the hybrids who should heed their sire's age and predilection for grudges.
Sophia was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a car pulling up, and she forced herself to put her phone away before she could call Caroline back. She had her own family to worry about.
The Gilbert siblings wanted to nix once and for all Jeremy's hunter instincts to kill one of his sisters, and in doing so, Elena insisted on asking Shane for help. So much for thinking they could all be on the same page about him. Her sister had been all too impressed with how he was helping Bonnie, and the young witch had jumped at the chance to ask for his expertise.
Sophia remembered when they had first met this guy, and it caused her skin to crawl at how he had wormed his way into their lives.
Professor Shane had suggested performing the spell in an environment with positive associations, and Sophia and Elena immediately thought of their parent's cabin.
And so, here they were.
Not wanting to be stuck in the house with Bonnie and her mentor, who had followed Sophia and Jeremy here in a separate car, Sophia opted to wait outside with her brother for Elena.
"All Jeremy feels when he sees a vampire is a burning desire to kill them, even if consciously, he doesn't want to. As in your case, it's his subconscious that's calling the shots."
They were all in the living room as Shane detailed what was going on with Jeremy. He stood next to her brother who sat directly across from Elena. Bonnie had found a seat on the couch while Sophia observed everyone from the kitchen.
Everyone, including Shane, knew she wasn't a big fan of him. The distance was required if she was going to hide her absolute contempt for him, especially after the stunt he pulled last week with the herbs he gave Bonnie to pass on to her. Only Caroline knew she had briefly lived pieces of a past life.
Sophia glanced down at her phone, to her unanswered calls and texts to Rebekah. Her best lead on how to get into contact with Kol. She had grim suspicions as to why the original sister was nowhere to be seen.
Sophia began to pay attention to Shane again after he had hypnotized Jeremy to knock out.
Bonnie chimed in. "Persuasion helps reverse your subconscious thoughts."
"Think of it as kind of a conditioned response, right? See vampire, kill vampire. What I'm doing is creating a kind of middle step. It's like a detour where his subconscious learns to recognize you as someone he loves, someone he wants to protect."
Sophia tuned out the rest of Shane's words in favor of deep breaths, listening in again when they decided to talk to Jeremy's subconscious.
Elena hesitated."I'm not sure what to say."
Shane encouraged her to talk about why they decided to choose to come to the cabin.
Elena briefly turned her head to look meaningfully at Sophia, before facing Jeremy again. "Every holiday, we came here. This place was family, and when mom and dad died, Jenna made us come here. Except for Sophie, we thought it was an awful idea… But it was like mom and dad were here with us."
Sophia's mind went back to those slow summer afternoons. Watching old movies while Jenna burned dinner and resorted to bargaining over the phone to get pizza delivered out here.
Jeremy's eyes opened.
Elena went on. "They would have wanted all of us to stick together, Jer. To fight for each other, no matter what."
"Jeremy, what do you feel about Elena right now?" Shane asked.
"She ruined our lives. She's not even my real sister. She's just the reason almost everyone I've ever loved has died. She means nothing to me. To protect my actual sister, I will kill her. Even if that means I will die myself."
Before Sophia could react to her brother's words, Shane rapt on the wooden table before him, taking Jeremy out of his hypnosis.
No longer speaking in that eerie monotone, Jeremy asked, "Did it work?"
"What's your beef with Shane?"
"I have my reasons," Sophia murmured to Damon as she peered out the window to where Shane had joined Elena out on the docks overlooking the lake.
To give the ice blue-eyed vampire credit, he found a solution to their problem. Instead of making Elena Jeremy's emotional touchstone as a detour from his homicidal subconscious, Damon proposed that it should be Bonnie.
"Uh-huh," he said as he made his way out the front door, his eyes also on her sister.
Sophia followed him, raising an eyebrow as he picked up Jeremy's hatchet. Looking back towards the water where the professor and Elena were standing a little too close for her liking, she asked, "What are they talking about?"
"He's feeding Elena some sob story about his dead wife and kid."
Sophia just managed not to flinch at the off-hand tone of Damon's words. He was less than sympathetic. Stealing herself, Sophia decided to follow his lead. Assuming Shane was telling the truth and wasn't some sociopathic liar, and as awful as what happened to him was, she tried to be pragmatic. The professor wanted something from them, and he wasn't stupid. Elena was at the center of this hunt for the cure, had murderous vampires at her beck and call, it made all the sense to make an appeal to her. Not to mention, she was the easiest in he would have with their little group, other than Bonnie. Her sister was nothing if not compassionate.
Elena was a marshmallow.
Sophia was just a few feet behind Damon as he walked over to the pair, their footsteps causing the wood that separated them from the water to creak.
"If you're hypno-herbs work, we should be singing 'kumbaya' around the fire by dinner. So now tell me why I'm not killing you?"
"Damon," Elena said warningly as Sophia caught up to everyone.
"I'm serious. Why are you after the vampire cure?"
"I didn't say I was looking for the cure," Shane said solemnly as he stepped closer to the hatchet happy Damon, "But I can tell you where to find it."
Shane's words had both vampires at attention.
"Klaus's sword will tell us where to find it," Damon hedged.
There was a sword?
"The sword will lead you there, sure, but so could I. I've already been there."
Back in the living room, Damon, Elena, and Sophia were all circled around Silas's headstone.
Sophia wanted to spit on the unexceptional chunk of rock.
"It's not just any rock," stated Shane.
Damon was about as impressed as she was. "Hmm. So is this that silly little wives tale that you told at the occult exhibit."
She felt the dark-haired vampire's eyes on her, and Sophia remembered he had been there, had seen what to him was an overreaction to Shane's exhibit.
Shane went on. "All right, long story short- once upon a time, there was a witch named Silas who loved a girl and wanted to be with her forever. So, he and his best friend, another witch, made an immortality spell. And then, Silas's best friend witch got jealous and killed Silas's girl before he got the chance to make her immortal. Well, cursed to an eternity without his one true love, Silas finds a way to reverse the immortality spell- and then, before he has a chance to take it, his former friend bury's him underground. Leaving him and the cure to rot."
Elena was enraptured. "So it's a cure for immortality?"
Sophia felt like an idiot for not putting it together before. Silas's one true love… If it wasn't Qetisyah…
"I thought you said Qetsiyah, the other witch, was a woman scorned? Now she's just a jealous friend?"
Shane's eyes cut to hers. "In some reiterations of the legend that I found, she is, it depends on the source. The scorned women version tends to do better with crowds."
Sophia nodded. Many details of that deadly love triangle had been lost in translation.
The professor turned back to Elena. "Human blood is the life force of an immortal. No more immortality, no more need to feed on blood. You dig up Silas and you got your cure"
He deciphered Jeremy's drawing of the map, saying that once it was complete, it would contain a spell to dig up Silas.
When asked, Shane wasn't willing to diverge the location of Silas's grave, not after it was his only bargaining chip against Damon's death threats.
"And what's in it for you? If not the cure, then what?" Elena wondered.
Shane spoke with renewed verve."I'm in this for Silas, alright, up until this point he's only been a myth."
The face of a believer. A covert, desperate fanatic.
The appeal of Silas must have enticed Shane the same way it tempted her family and friends in her last life, with the promise that he could uplift the dead and reunite them with the living.
Maybe Professor Shane was stupid.
"You don't like me."
Sophia stayed silent as Shane sat with her at the kitchen table.
"I'm sorry about the accident with the herbs. Bonnie said they made you sick? They must've been mislabeled, my sincerest apologies."
Sophia aimed for neutral as she met Shane's eyes. "Why do you think Bonnie would pass the herbs to me?"
He seemed to chew over her words before answering. "An uncanny drawing, hundreds of years old, of a girl with your likeness. I heard legends of palia psychi's through my travels. I would have chalked it up to a coincidence if Bonnie hadn't mentioned that she was the one to prepare your memory tonic."
The best Sophia could do was level him with dead eyes as she stared at the professor, hoping the curve of her lips passed off as a smile. How she very much would like to laugh off his words and play the part of a vacuous teenager, but she didn't have the energy.
"The thing with the herbs must've been quite the oversight. I thought I had food poisoning."
He nodded. "Oh. And- That was all?"
"That was all."
Shane looked as if he wanted to say more, but thought better of it. He coughed awkwardly as he stood up to leave.
Sophia made her way to the den, overhearing Elena and Damon's conversation.
"I think Shane's going to get us through this. I trust him."
Sophia came to an abrupt halt, stupefied by her sister's words. They had talked just the other day, both agreeing the cure wasn't worth chipping away at Jeremy's humanity.
"I thought we were going to try to slow down Jeremy from hunting? Are you saying you want the cure now?"
Last time Sophia had checked in with Elena, she had said she wanted to embrace vampirism and was feeling more comfortable with who she was now.
Despite how there wasn't much they could do with Klaus looking over Stefan's shoulder, it had been nice to know she and her sister were on the same side.
Elena looked at her, her doe eyes guilty. "I- I meant to talk to you. Ev-" Elena's eyes flickered to Damon, "Everyone was so worked up about the sire bond, and the cure seems like the best way to fix it."
Sophia thought back to an earlier conversation with Caroline. "I thought another way to resolve that was space from Damon?" The vampire in question narrowed his eyes at her, but a flash of guilt crossed his face.
So this is what Sophia got for trying to stay out of her sister's love life, trying to give Elena the space she asked for to figure out her feelings. Now that sire bond was biting her in the ass.
"I want to hunt vampire's Sophie. I need to. If the end result is that I help Elena find the cure, a chance for our sister to be human again, then that's what's best for everyone, isn't it?"
Sophia turned around to where Jeremy had entered the room, Bonnie at his side.
No, she didn't think that was best for everyone.
Was there anyone in her corner?
Not Jeremy. No Elena, and by association, no Salvatore's. Not Bonnie, not Klaus. Caroline was all for the cure.
She had kept her dreams and previous lives close to the vest, not trusting her family and friends with the information they contained. She was doubtful they would have respected her interpretations of her past lives, paranoid that her history with Klaus eroded her credibility.
And now she was experiencing the ramifications of that secrecy being a two-way street.
She didn't know what it was to be a vampire. Was she the selfish one for wanting to discard the search for the cure when her family and friends were so determined to find it?
Sophia walked backed a few steps so she could face everyone, all eyes on her. God knows where Shane was lurking.
When an opportunity presented itself, she had meant to state her case calmly, gently, to foster doubts about what searching for this cure would actually entail.
But Sophia was functioning on four hours of sleep. Her brother wanted to kill their sister, her sister was under the thrall of a dubious boyfriend, and one of her best friends was being groomed by a hack.
Like Caroline had so compassionately told Elena, it wasn't their fault. They were being taken advantage of.
Desperate to shake sense into them, she had let her exasperation get the best of her. Her words were more ridiculing than disarming.
"The cure was created at least a thousand years before vampires even existed, and we don't know the details of Silas's immortality spell. What makes you all think this cure will be safe for a vampire to drink when it was specifically made as a solution for Silas's problems? Shane's only in this to wake up Silas. If this cure is real, we should all assume Silas is too. And maybe I'm the last person who should voice my opinion on this, but we don't exactly have the best track record with ancient immortals." Sophia looked to Jeremy. "Even though they were part of the council, no way in hell mom and dad would have let their 16-year-old son moonlight as a vampire hunter. At the very least, we can put this off until you're 18. And I know what Stefan's been up to in an attempt to grow your mark." Anger fortified, Sophia looked to her sister and Damon. "Now that Elena can drink blood bags, she can make it the next two years as a vampire. Preferably single. And we can find some more research about Silas and cure. I personally would prefer to not have to rely on only one source for almost all of our cure-related information!"
If secrecy and lies of omission didn't help her loved ones see things from her perspective, yelling and shaming should do the trick, Sophia thought sardonically, immediately regretting her outburst.
Breathing hard, she was on the verge of tears.
She wanted her mom and dad here to be the voice of reason. She wanted Jenna's unshakable support.
The young palia psychi blamed the Salvatores and Klaus for this urgency to find the cure, and Shane for his part in spinning them further.
Various expressions flitted through the faces before her. Stunned, defensive, goaded.
She despised the patronizing look on her sister's face as she prepared to step into a placative role, being the bigger person.
"Sophie, take a breath," Elena said soothingly as she attempted to step closer to her, then halting.
Sophia heard a throat clear. "How about we try to fix Jeremy now?"
Sophia turned around to face Shane.
"You do that. Please." She looked back to Elena and Bonnie. "Text me when it's done, if it worked. I need to get out of here."
"Sophie wait-"
"Please Elena, I just- I need some space."
She drove straight through town. She steered the car without aim until a particular highway exit caught her eye.
As if Jenna herself was beside her, Sophia could almost hear her aunt giving her the directions like it was yesterday.
The Stony Badger Tavern, Jenna's favorite pub near her college.
Half-past nine in the evening, Sophia walked in without a care. It was as quaint and homey as she remembered. Walls built of red oak wood, bar stools standing on their last leg.
A few university-aged stragglers here and there, but it was pretty much dead inside. Sophia took out her driver's license as she sat at a seat before the bar.
"A shot of bourbon, please."
The bartender nodded at her as he finished up polishing a glass, not even glancing down at her I.D. before setting out to pour her drink.
"I'm more of a tequila sunrise kinda girl, but I'll have the same," a svelte figure called out from the corner of Sophia's eye, taking a seat beside her.
Sophia turned her head towards the familiar voice. "Hayley?"
The brunette werewolf was dolled up in a black dress with a fairly low V- neck.
"Long time, no see Gilbert. What have you been up to?"
Sophia blinked at the she-wolf, wondering what the chances were that they would run into each other here.
Ignoring the question, Sophia replied, "I have to tell you, I wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew out here."
"I'm crashing with a friend in the area, giving Tyler a break." Hayley shrugged noncommittally.
The not unattractive bartender returned to set their drinks down while not so conspicuously ogling Hayley's chest.
He smiled suggestively as his gaze finally made its way to her eyes. "You and your friends' drinks are on the house."
Sophia looked away, suppressing a snort as he left to tend to other customers. With Hayley's back to her, Sophia noticed a peculiar birthmark. A slim crescent on the corner of her back.
Those damned crescent wolves, Haldor's voice echoed in her head.
Sophia shook off her thoughts when Hayley turned back to her.
Hayley laughed under her breath."The odds of me closing the bar with him went way out the window. But hey, cheers to free drinks."
"How old are you?" Sophia asked without thinking as she picked up her glass.
"Twenty-one, of course," Hayley said mockingly as she clinked her glass with Sophia's, then downing it.
Sophia contemplated the amber liquid, then followed suit.
She debated asking her next question, and decided to go for it.
"Um, I heard from Caroline that Tyler had something planned tonight, but she didn't share what. Keeping in mind I have no context, how did that go?"
Hayley rolled her empty glass between her hands, her face blank. "It- It didn't. We should have known better than to think we could have pulled one over on Klaus. We were idiots."
Sophia's lips parted, and her hand drifted to her phone, which was tucked into her hoodie's pocket. Right as she pulled it out, Hayley spoke again.
"Look, I've heard a lot of," she waved a slim hand in a circle, "a lot of stuff about you and Klaus. And maybe my first impression was completely off, but you seem… sweet. And uh, I don't know what to believe."
Sophia smiled humorlessly. Reading between the lines, she picked up on the unvoiced question. "It's complicated? I- There's nothing going on between me and Klaus, we just… have a history together."
Setting her phone, Sophia flagged down the bartender, who nodded in acknowledgment from the other end of the bar.
"Oh? And how old are you?" the she-wolf laughed, her eyes lightening up.
"Twenty-one," Sophia rolled her eyes and smiled as the bartender made his way to them. "Obviously."
"She slept with him the day after her breakup? I mean- Believe me, I have no room to talk when it comes to other people's sex lives, but Tyler paints her out to be such a good girl- Then again, so do you, and look who you run around with."
Sophia slammed her hand over her mouth. She shouldn't have spewed on about Elena like that, and wondered how much was to blame on that second double tequila sunrise.
"I shouldn't have gone off on my sister like- it's obviously more complicated than that, with the sire bond, and all."
Hayley nodded, looking like she didn't care one way or the other.
With all the heavy onus Sophia was carrying, she spoke of the first relatively frivolous gossip that came to mind, considering how Hayley was essentially a stranger. She had started with talking about she didn't feel as close to her Elena as she used to, and it spiraled from there.
"Hey, I promise I could care less about your sister's teenage vampire drama, and you clearly need to vent and blow off steam. Don't feel so bad."
Sophia opened her mouth to say she blew off steam all the time, than thought better of it.
Girls' night had been a bust. Thinking hard over how tumultuous the past couple of months have been, it was possible the last time she really let herself relax was her 18th birthday.
"You might be right. And you're being really nice. Considering."
Hayley raised her voice. "Considering?"
Shame surged in Sophia. "For my part in Chris's death. Tyler told me you two were friends, and I never apologized for what happened to him. I- I know this doesn't make up for what I did, but I'm sorry."
A beat passed.
"It was for your sister, right? Your family. I'm not condoning what you did, but I get it. I would give anything, do anything, to just know who my parents are, and it's gotten me into some pretty rough spots." Hayley's neutral expression faltered, and her eyes, the color of stained glass, glossed over. She seemed to be talking more to herself than Sophia. "You did what you had to do."
"I saw you with him, Amara."
The younger woman jumped and spun at the sound of her voice, her loose hair flying around as Sofia stepped out from the shadows, well hidden in the dark of the night.
"Sofia?" Amara gasped.
Sofia continued walking into the tent, pulling Amara with her.
"At your word, I help to get you out from the brothel only for you to go and make yourself a nobleman's courtesan. And not just any, but your mistress's betrothed! Of all the foolish endeavors. What were you thinking, Amara?" Sofia beseeched.
"Tis not what you think, he loves me! And I him." The apples of Amara's cheeks were shaded crimson as she stared defiantly at Sofia, who couldn't help the pity that was shown on her face.
"He must have quite the silver tongue to make fools of the most capable women I know. Did he spin tales of love and ardor to win you into his bed? You're a beautiful woman, Amara, but lowborn. Given your past work, you of all should know that noblemen never leave their wives, no matter what they may promise otherwise."
Amara bit her lip as her eyes darted away from the old soul. "I know of the immortality spell," she said quietly.
Blood drained from Sofia's face.
What sort of ruse was Silas up to? she wondered.
Very few knew of the immortality spell Qetsiyah and Silas planned to perform at their wedding, for the magic it necessitated was all but declared forbidden by the elders.
Sofia was privy as one of Qetsiyah's few confidants, as well as tasked with much of the wedding preparation,
Amara continued to speak just above a whisper. "He- he means for me and him to take it, and has no intention of marrying Qetsiyah."
"You want to be immortal, Amara? How did this liaison with Silas come about?"
Sofia stumbled backward and let herself drop to the plump cushion below her, folding her legs beneath.
Silas and Qetsiyah's courtship had been a farce, and her mistress didn't know it.
Amara fell to her knees before her, her eyes entreating.
"I'm not proud of my actions, but I'm in love with him, Sofia."
Amara then began to share a tale of a most ruinous romance.
Sophia woke up with a dry mouth and a mild headache.
"Morning," Hayley greeted from the driver's seat, sipping a coffee, "I got you one too." She nodded to the cup holders in the center.
Sophia winced as she sat up, messaging the crick in her neck.
Both too drunk to drive home last night, they had opted to sleep it off in Hayley's car, figuring it was safer to stay together.
Despite her dream, like a Pavlovian response, Sophia brightened at the sight of the deep-fried pastry beside her coffee.
"Is it too much to ask if the donut is mine too?"
When she returned to her car, Sophia quickly texted back her concerned friends and family, who had spammed her phone, then set off for home.
Sophia and Elena learned together that Saturday of Carol Lockwood's death, which was rumored around town to be from drinking one too many and an ill-fated fall.
From Caroline, they got the actual story. How she and Tyler were sure it was Klaus who had killed her as retribution for unsiring the hybrids and conspiring for his death.
Antipathy webbed and curled in Sophia at how close she came to losing Klaus again.
"Hayley was the one who sold him out. Something about a deal to sacrifice all 12 hybrids. Crazy bitch snapped my neck," Caroline bit out as she and Sophia worked together to organize all the casseroles delivered to Tyler on Sunday. Sofija and Sophia were at war with each other, the former wanting to give in to the enmity cobwebbed in her. Guilt over her devotion to Klaus, and for what Klaus had done to Carol Lockwood, encouraged Sophia to want to be there for Tyler throughout all this. She knew what it was to lose a parent.
Hayley's words echoed in Sophia's head. You did what had to do.
"Just when I actually started to think Klaus wasn't all that bad, feel bad for him, and he goes and- uh." Caroline looked nervously at her. "I'm sorry for not telling you about the plan to kill Klaus. You have no idea how much I wanted to, but you tend to- to not be a fan of those… I thought it would make things harder than they needed to be."
Sophia decided early on she wouldn't hold it against the blonde for the secrecy, she had been placed in a difficult position. If Sophia had been in Caroline's heels… the old soul could see she would be exactly one of the last people one should tell about designs on Klaus's life.
"It's okay Caroline. I get why you didn't."
"I really don't want you to be missing school on account of this, Sophia. It can wait-"
"I haven't seen my brother all weekend because Damon and Elena decided he needs to train and toughen up in order to hunt vampires. As far as the cure goes, I need to learn as much as I can about what they're up against. I should be there around 1."
Sophia heard a sigh over the phone. "Drive safe."
Sophia noticed a familiar car model across the street as she unlocked her own.
Hayley.
Still buckled in, she appeared to be asleep.
Sophia stalked over to her, knocking hard on the glass window.
The she-wolf snapped awake.
"What was that bonding shtick you were trying to pull with me on Friday. You know, the same night you betrayed your friends and got them all killed?" Sophia glared down at the wolf, then shaking her head as she began to walk back to the driveway. She heard the sound of the opening and slam of a car door.
"Sophie, wait." Hayley's voice was too close for her comfort. "I did it for my parents. So I could find them, it was the only way. It's not all that different than what you did for your sister."
Anger flared in Sophia as she made her way to her car.
"Who the hell put into your head to sacrifice 12 of your own kind. People who thought you were a friend, an ally, who you helped to unsire."
"They were planning on killing Klaus. Did your friends tell you that?"
Sophia flinched.
"By all accounts, there's more between you too than just history."
Sophia turned around to face Hayley, who was right behind her.
"What are you doing parked in front of my house. Are you a stalker now too?"
"The same guy who wanted the sacrifice, he told me to keep an eye on you."
Sophia searched the wolf-girl's eyes. "Running into you at the pub wasn't a coincidence, was it?"
The old soul thought of the only other outsider it made sense for Hayley to be colluding with.
"A domesticated crescent wolf," Sophia sneered, "your ancestors must be rolling in their graves. I didn't peg you as the type of girl who would answer to someone else's beck and call. And you must be more naive than I thought to take orders from Shane. He's a zealot who I guarantee won't follow through and whatever he's promised you."
It was brief, but Sophia saw a flash of doubt in Hayley's eyes. Well. At least someone might actually listen to her warning. Her family and friends weren't going to.
"What do you mean crescent wolf?"
Fifteen odds minutes later, Hayley sat in the passenger seat as Sophia drove to Hannah's.
Wanting to know what Sophia knew about her ancestors (as well as how she knew), Hayley bargained to share everything she knew about Shane.
As for how they ended up carpooling, Hayley said no matter what she was going to tail Sophia to Duke University, and it made sense to Sophia at the time to keep a close eye on the backstabber.
In hindsight, with Hayley supposedly so single-minded on stalking her, Sophia wished she would have made her work for it.
At least then, Sophia could have enjoyed a quiet car ride.
"Did you know that Shane has this really old drawing of you? It's why I thought you looked so familiar when we met. I know I'm a werewolf, but there's something about actual reincarnation that seems so fantastical. I mean, your name pops up in legends about the Silas guy. If you're actually that old, that's insane."
Hayley talked to her as if they were back in that pub again, before Sophia knew better.
Her knuckles whitened as her grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"You can drop the friend act, I don't know why you're bothering."
Hayley shifted in her seat. "I like you, Sophia. I had a lot of fun at the pub the other night, and I'm sorry things went down the way they did. It's not an act."
Sophia didn't spare Hayley a glance. "Joy."
Sophia's eyes widened when she glanced down at her phone to see she was receiving a call from Rebekah. Only 20 minutes away from Hannah's, she pulled over on a residential street to answer it.
"Why-" Hayley began.
Sophia shushed her. "Rebekah?" Her voice was more than a little hopeful.
"It's me, dear. Glad to hear someone's missed me, if your numerous texts are indicative of such. Well, you and April. It was quite the surprise to see that she was the one who undaggered me."
"I'm so sorry, I thought you might've been- I'm sorry, things have gotten a little insane since I last saw you. And wow, really, April." Jeez, what was it? The 4th or 5th Rebekah has been daggered in the past few months alone.
"Yes, she's been most helpful with my latest project. Now, what's this about you needing to talk to Kol?"
Before Sophia could answer, another voice spoke up.
"Is that right? Have you missed me darling?" Sophia looked with wide eyes at Hayley as she heard Kol's voice, not believing her luck, though Hayley looked perplexed by the turn of events. The old soul thought she might have heard Rebekah trying to get her phone back from her brother. "Oh, don't be jealous sister, I am the most agreeable of us Mikaelsons."
"I remember Kol," Sophia said in Quechua.
A notable pause before Kol answered.
"... I see. I and my sister have business to attend to, dear Sofijah, but rest assured, I will find you." And with that, he ended the call.
"This is Hayley. Uh, she's with me. Don't trust her as far as you can throw her, and you should be fine."
"I see?" Hannah acknowledged as she hugged Sophia, and smiled hesitantly at the she-wolf.
"You're very holier than thou for someone who seems pretty close to the original psychos," Hayley said crossly, nodding politely at the honey blonde.
As the teenage girls walked into the apartment Sophia asked, "Hannah, during one of my visits here, I saw that you were tracking wolf pack bloodlines. Do you have anything recent about the crescent pack?"
Ever the academic, Hannah nodded brightly. "Oh yes, their history is fascinating. I only have a few scattered field notes from an old friend regarding any information past the 20s, however."
Sophia glanced at Hayley. "It's a start, and since you didn't even know who the crescent pack was, I'm assuming any information Shane gave you about your parents was the bare minimum."
Hayley looked nettled at the mention of being short-changed by the professor. "How do I know you're my best bet, and not Shane."
"I'll tell you my personal history with the crescents, and if you think it's worth your while to learn the rest of what Hannah has on them, I'd advise for you to spill what you know about Shane."
As Hayley eyed Hannah thoughtfully, Sophia threw in, "If you try and steal Hannah's notes and book it, keep in mind she's tougher than she looks, and that I have Klaus's sister on speed dial. If you paid attention to our call earlier, you might've noticed we're close, and she has her brother's temper."
"Sophia," the older woman admonished.
Hayley smiled rather wickedly. "So the claws come out. I knew there was friendship potential here."
"Shane was right, I'm a palia psychi. About a 1,000 years ago, I was born as Sofija Dahlgaard, daughter of a wolf of the North-East Atlantic pack. Me and Hannah haven't had much luck figuring out which bloodline they're descended from. Their largest rivals were the crescent wolves. They were a large pack and always angling for more territory- Anyways, anyone of their blood has the same birthmark you do."
Hannah cleared her throat. "The crescents have lost a lot of numbers, as all packs did, after vampires were created. According to my notes, what's left reside in-"
"Ah-hem," Sophia interrupted. "Sorry Hannah, but now it's time for Hayley to make a decision."
A yearning look was in Hayley's eye as she eyed the stack of papers in Hannah's arms
"All Shane told me about my parents was that they were dead. Even after what I did - on Friday- he still hasn't given me the flash drive with the information he has on them. And he won't until I give him an update on you, and what you know… Look, I was pissed that Shane knew the entire time that my parents were dead. But, he said Silas would be able to bring them back. I don't know if I believe that, but I had come so far and done so much to just… give up."
Taking a breath, she went on. "Shane organized the council's deaths, and for the hybrids, he recruited me to unsire them for Klaus to kill. Both groups of 12, which seemed awfully important to him. He said it was necessary to gather power for your witch friend, and that they would come back when he dug up Silas, that Silas would bring them back. And… that's all I know. I'm not completely sure what his angle was with you. Since you didn't like him, he wanted me to get close to you and relay any and all information you happened to share with me."
Hannah's pleasant demeanor shifted, grey eyes stormy, her face severe.
"You stupid girl," the blonde reproved, "Nothing good will come of those sacrifices if this Shane does manage to revive Silas."
Sophia was visibly startled, having never seen this sort of disapproval from Hannah.
Even Hayley seemed to shrink away the slightest bit.
"Well, I suppose a deal is a deal," Hannah said cooley as she passed her folder to Hayley, then turned to Sophia. "I wasn't able to gather first account lore from Silas's followers, but through a witch contact, I learned more about Qetsiyah."
According to Hannah's contact, Qetsiyah was on another level. It was Qetsiyah who created both the immortality elixir and it's cure as part of her punishment. Apparently, Qetsiyah had founded the other side, a sort of purgatory specifically for supernatural beings, to keep Silas and Amara apart even in death, should Silas take the cure.
The brotherhood of the five was created by a witch from Qetsiyah's bloodline to track down Silas, force-feed him the cure, and ideally, kill him.
"Holy hell," admired Hayley.
If she was being honest, Sophia was grudgingly impressed.
"Obviously, Qetsiyah had to have been incredibly powerful in her own right to be able to accomplish all that, but even so, that kind of magic takes serious juice," she pondered, unknowingly shrinking, making herself smaller as she hugged herself.
"I'm waiting on hearing back from a colleague about Shane's trip from the island. They were supposed to go together, but he had to cancel at the last minute because of a family emergency."
Sophia nodded. "Thank you so much Hannah for finding all this out. "
"Of course, I'm happy you asked for my help." Turning her grey eyes on Hayley, Hannah went on. "I don't know how much you've read of the papers I gave you, but more likely than not, you were born in New Orleans. I have a friend there, I can reach out to see if she knows anything."
Hayley's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. "Thank you, but this is plenty-"
Hannah continued with steely-eyed resolve."I insist. I'm not guaranteeing my friend will even know anything, but if she does, this information has no strings attached. I won't ask anything of you."
Hayley nodded, unable to meet Hannah's eyes. "I would appreciate that," she said, uncharacteristically meek.
The young werewolf waited outside by the car as Sophia finished saying goodbye to Hannah.
"And here I thought I was special," Sophia said with a kind smile, "But it seems like you'll take in any stray."
Hannah shrugged with a tired smile as her eyes flickered to Hayley. "I could see myself falling for Shane's manipulations, hook, line, and sinker, back when I was desperate to find out about my past. And this way, hopefully, she won't go back to him, betray your confidence."
"Maybe."
"Are you sure you don't want to spend the night? The both of you? It's pretty late-"
"I appreciate the offer, but I should get back tonight. I haven't heard from my family and friends all day and something tells me that's not a good thing."
"So Hannah seems great. I- I can't believe how much I did for Shane for so little."
The car ride back to Mystic Falls had been mostly silent, with Hayley speaking up as they drew closer.
"I don't know how I'll ever return the favor for how much she's helped me. She should start to charge," replied Sophia.
A small laugh escaped Hayley.
"Look, ignoring the semantics of whether it's okay to sacrifice one life vs twelve, I can see how what we both did was… along the same lines. And I actually had a good time with you at the pub before everything went to hell, as it tends to in Mystic Falls." Sophia sighed. "I'm gonna take a page from Hannah's book. I don't know where you'll end up next, but if you're ever in the area and there's something -within reason- and I can do to help, please call."
A moment of silence as Hayley collected her papers together.
"I'll tell Shane that I didn't learn anything, and cut off contact. It- it was a mistake to get involved with him in the first place."
Both teenagers agreed it would be best for Hayley to leave town as soon as possible. Sophia watched from her porch as she drove away down the dark street, then stepped into her house.
Glancing at her phone, Sophia saw that it was nearly 11.
"I feel like I should meet Hannah with how often you visit her, and how much she's helped you," commented Elena from the couch in the living room.
Sophia hummed noncommittally as she took a seat by the window. She liked keeping Mystic Falls and Hannah separate, with the added bonus that the fellow old soul was better for it.
"Sophie, I know you're not happy that we're still planning on finding the cure. Please understand. I wouldn't go along with it if in any way if I thought Jeremy's life was in danger."
Sophia slipped off her shoes, then pulled up her legs so she could hug them. "Where is Jeremy tonight, Elena?"
"... He's still training up at the cabin. But Damon is there looking out for him, and I trust him to protect Jeremy."
More like protecting the map for the cure, corrected Sophia.
"What about Silas? What are we gonna do about him, huh?"
"Dam- we- I think it's just a wives tale."
"How can you shrug off Silas as a wives tale, but not the cure? One wouldn't exist without the other."
Elena was quiet for a moment. "We'll figure it out if he really does exist. But we're not the only ones looking for the cure, Rebekah is too. April undaggered her. It really is a race now."
Sophia laughed bleakly. That was just her luck. "Be that as it may, all this aside, what about the Shane of it all? I don't trust him. He- he organized the farmhouse fire, Elena. He set up the hybrids to be slaughtered. Please don't ask how I know this, just take my word for it. I'll - I swear on Jeremy's life, I'm telling the truth."
The sisters decided it could wait until tomorrow to try to talk about Shane.
Slightly less certain of their brother's security, Elena volunteered to go back to the lake house that same night to check in on him.
"I'm sure he's fine," Elena insisted as she shrugged on her jacket, "I just want to see how he's doing."
Not ten minutes after her sister had left, there was a knock on her front door.
Sophia had been eyeing the hot chocolate she was boiling on the kitchen with longing, her sweet tooth acting up.
On the other side of the door, her wayward savior.
"Kol."
"How positively quaint," Kol chaffed as he accepted the oversized mug of hot chocolate fixed with whip cream and cinnamon.
Sophia rolled her eyes as she sat on the chair beside him on the porch, playing it safe by not inviting him inside.
"I- I don't know where to start. You somehow knew who and what I was in another life. You saved me-"
"I couldn't very well let an assemblage of Silas sycophants sacrifice my brother's girl, now could I?"
"You never told Klaus about me," Sophia said matter of factly. She was still unsure of what to do with that information. She wasn't angry, exactly. Perhaps a tad miffed. Anyhow, Kol didn't owe her anything.
"You were nowhere near the woman he married in that incarnation, darling. All of fifteen, raised to be subservient, and rather coltish once I got you talking. And Klaus- well, I'd say he's made a bloody mess of your life as you knew it. Let's be charitable and presume he wouldn't have insisted on turning you then, tempted to rid you of that pesky mortality. He would have coerced some witch to bind your soul to him, and impose his control of every life thereafter. Am I really the bad guy from omitting that you weren't quite as dead as we all thought, hmm?"
Kol had inched closer to her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face at the end of his tangent. Sparkling, raffish dark eyes studied her over attentively as he tucked in a loose lock of hair.
Sophia mentally sighed. Kol was ever the flirt back when she had first met him, and she could only imagine how well his Mikaelson wiles have served him over the centuries.
Kol had always possessed the makings of a heartbreaker (as did all of Esther's children), and a village Lothario back when he had still been mortal.
Sophia arched an eyebrow, unmoved. "So I'm supposed to believe you were… what? Looking after me? Out of the kindness of your heart, I'm sure." She took a sip from her own mug, eyes not shying away from his own.
Kol smirked as he relaxed back on his chair, taking a drink. His primeval eyes were incongruous on his boyish face.
"I've always considered us friends of a sort, Sophia. You were more palatable than Tatia, and that sister of yours." Kol clicked his tongue. "Between my brother's sordid fixation on you, and being seemingly cursed to endure the Petrova doppelgangers in every life, you really do have the most unfortunate luck."
Unease seized Sophia, and Kol's words rang in her ear. He spoke them so offhandedly, not knowing precisely what he had touched upon.
"Kol," Sophia said warningly, trying to play off how what he said knocked the air out of her.
Cursed to endure the Petrova doppelgangers.
"I digress," his smile was sharp, "What we really should be talking about is Silas. Surely you can't be on board for digging him up?"
"No, I'm not, but no one's lining up to take advice from me. They don't think I could possibly know what I'm talking about," Sophia said dryly. In all fairness, Sophia hadn't told them about her time with Amara. About the time she was nearly sacrificed to Silas.
"Ah, well so goes the understated approach. For old times sake, I hope you keep in mind I was willing to avoid bloodshed."
Shit.
"Kol wait, please tell me what you know about Silas. I remember some of my past life where you saved me, but I didn't relive all of it. I remember what you said about Silas bringing back all the dead, is there anything else?"
The vampire eyed her musingly.
"That wasn't the first group of Silas worshippers I've had to put down. I'd say you know all the important bits. I suppose I should tell you the witches in service of Mama Pacha treated you well, even went as far as to marry you off to one of their own. One might say he was a good man, I would say dull. He was raised to take point from you, as their coven was a matriarchy."
Well. "I guess that's- that was probably best-case scenario for me, back then. How did you find out about palia psychi's in the first place?"
"A ravishing young witch with a weakness for pretty words and pretty faces. Good for me, quite the foible for her, given how brilliant she was. A fascination of hers were palia psychi's. She performed that secrecy charm on at least two by the time I knew her. I suppose she figured no harm done, given how I couldn't care less at the time. Secrecy and past lives aside, you aren't the most riveting bunch."
Sophia snorted. "Fair enough." Taking a moment to clear her throat, she continued. "Give me some time to convince my family. Please."
Kol placed his mug on a table as he stood up. Sophia mimicked his actions, her eyes stuck on him.
A long-suffering sigh as he ran a hand through his currently floppy hair. How with the times he was. "I make no promises, Sophia Gilbert." A rakish smile, a sly wink, and then he was gone.
Sophia hovered near the top of the stairs when she heard Elena return home the following afternoon with Matt.
"... When I asked you to stay with Jeremy, I never thought-"
"What did you expect, Elena? It's Damon." Trying patience colored Matt's voice.
"I never wanted anyone to get hurt." Pain marred Elena's.
"Well, then you shouldn't have left him in charge… Look, I'm sorry. I know you didn't have a choice, sire bond an all."
"Sire bond doesn't work like that."
"All I know Elena is that the old you would have never left Jeremy with Damon, especially after what happened last night."
"What happened last night?" Sophia called out as she walked down the stairs.
Despite how he was tempted to stay quiet after Elena shot him a frantic look, it was Matt who shared with her how Klaus and Damon conspired to fast-track the map on Jeremy's arm by turning a bar full of people into vampires. Jeremy wanted no part in it, and as an incentive, Klaus threatened Matt's life.
At some point, Elena stepped out to take a call.
Sophia insisted on going alone to ask for Klaus's help.
She should have known better. She should have taken precautions and warned her family sooner. Kol worked fast and was holding Damon captive after the younger vampire tried to slow the original down and keep him from hurting her brother.
She found herself in one of many expansive living rooms at Klaus's. The curtains were drawn, keeping natural light out. The shadowed room was lit solely by the fireplace.
"A bit ironic you coming to me for help. Weren't your friends just trying to bury me in a cement tomb?"
He had been the picture of perfunctory courtesy when he invited her in. His mask was up, and gone was the man whose charmed eyes had fondly trailed after her at Miss Mystic Falls.
Sophia frowned at him. "I didn't know that was going to hap-"
"But you knew of Tyler's plan to unsire my hybrids. I don't see how you couldn't have with how close you are with Caroline."
Klaus examined her for a long moment, his face motionless.
"Fine. I did know."
Sophia bit her cheek, and looked towards the carpeted floor, unable to meet his eyes.
"No need to feign guilt, love. You've made it abundantly clear your loyalties don't reside with me."
When Sophia looked back towards him, Klaus adopted the affectation of appearing detached, his lips curved upwards, his eyes amused.
"What about Jeremy? With all the trouble to went to, such as siring an entire bar-"
"And now my little brat of a brother has gone and laid waste to that plan. Well, he never did like Damon. I suppose I should do something, shouldn't I?" he pondered blithely.
"Please, Niklaus. Him and Elena are all I have left." Grasping at straws, Sophia added, "You still need him for the map. To- to cure Elena."
Klaus scoffed. "Whilst I'd like to cure your sister to make more hybrids, I do have other reasons for finding the cure, not the least of which is destroying it. I wouldn't put it past your loved ones," he scorned, "to use it against me."
Sophia cringed. That did sound like something they would do. Or try to.
"Look, if I had it my way, I would want everyone to drop the hunt for the cure. I think you're all idiots for risking to unleash Silas. Aside from threatening to kill my family, I actually think Kol had the right idea-"
Klaus's dark eyes flared with intrigue. "You believe in fairytales, sweetheart?"
"Silas is not a fairytale," she all but hissed. Sucking in a deep breath, Sophia trudged on. "The fact of the matter is, and everyone but Kol seems to want to deny this, but if the cure exists, so must Silas. I would argue that the existence of the cure hinges on that fact, given that it was made long before the creation of vampires."
Klaus made a show of appearing genteel. "Admirable deductive reasoning, little love, but pure speculation," he murmured indulgently.
Her teeth clenched. "Nevermind, it's beside the point."
"How are you so certain that Silas is real? Your alarm is palpable. You've been cavorting with Kol and plotting against your friends and family. You've schemed with your friends about me. Seems you've been hiding your fair share of secrets behind this modest, beguiling veneer of yours."
Sophia faltered."I was not cavorting with Kol, my family and friends know I'm against this hint for the cure, and I haven't- I didn't intend to act against you." Sophia was breathing hard, and she found herself wishing she had let Elena go in her place.
"Can- can we please go back to focusing on how your little brother wants to kill my little brother?"
Blue eyes glinted curiously.
"A favor for a secret- Tell me, what collusions have occurred between you and my brother?"
"There were no collusions-"
"To know his thoughts on the matter, surely you must have exchanged words. You sought Kol out, or him you. What could you two possibly have to say to each other?"
The palia psychi shut her eyes. Her brother, or Kol. It wasn't much of a choice. Klaus would never kill Kol, daggering and retribution being more his style. As much as she wanted to tell herself that Klaus wouldn't be too wrathful over the secret Kol had kept, she knew better. Their sordid fixation went both ways.
"Deal." She stared unnervingly at the hybrid.
"Deal." He looked expectantly at her, and she took that as her cue to go first.
Sophia bit her lip. "We did meet, and it was less for conspiring and had more to do with catching up. I definitely did not sick him on my own family... I'm sure you know that Kol has a fondness for witches. Way back when, one of them told him about the existence of palia psychi's. I'm not sure if you know this, but there's this charm a witch can perform on them to hide the fact that others are an old soul, and only witches who've performed that charm can sense palia psychi's." Klaus nodded, his face ominous. "Anyhow, in one life I was born towards the fall of the Incan civilization. I was Incan myself, and, um, these Silas fanatics wanted to sacrifice me on his behalf. Kol saved me. From both them and possibly smallpox. One of the witches he was running with at the time must've recognised me as an old soul, since his first guess was palia psychi and not doppelganger."
Klaus's face was stone, his eyes flinty. He pulled out his phone right then and there and made a call.
"Little brother," the hybrid's tone was amiable and belied his anger, "Just two days home and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess." Sophia only heard Klaus's end of the conversation.
"Those vampires were for my hunter." "Where's Damon Salvatore?" "Yes, well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home. Avoid any trouble or you'll find yourself back in a box." Sophia flinched. "On the contrary, I find nastiness essential whenever my siblings try to sabotage me." Klaus's eyes were on Sophia. "Listen closely Kol, stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?"
Silence transpired once Klaus hung up.
Sophia had checked her phone and saw that she had missed multiple calls and texts from Bonnie, the last one asking if they could meet at the Grill.
"I- I have to go now."
"Your life, the one where Kol found you… You were reborn less than a century after the mess with Katerina." he observed forebodingly as stood up, walking towards the fireplace. "Care to share my little brother's rationale for not informing me."
Sophia's voice was subdued. "He didn't think it was in my best interest."
She jumped at the suddenness of Klaus smiting his wall with his hand.
She jumped to her feet. "Nik-"
"Leave Sophia."
Because of April Young's confession, Shane had been arrested, and he had finally admitted to Bonnie of the sacrifices he engineered in order to generate enough power for Silas to revive the dead. When Sophia caught up with her at the Grill, the disillusioned witch apologized.
But Sophia couldn't sit still and catch her breath just yet. She had caught the tail end of Bonnie's conversation with her father, now the mayor of Mystic Falls, who pleaded to Sophia to help convince his daughter she needed help.
Sophia asked Bonnie what her father meant as she drove her home.
Bonnie admitted that she had let her anger get the best of her when Shane admitted his motivations, but insisted she had a handle on her magic and her dad was being dramatic.
Sophia arrived home to an embittered Elena and Jeremy. She had just missed Klaus, who tried to force Jeremy to stay with him until Kol could be found. Kol, who was still roaming free and now had the white oak stake in his possession.
"This is never going to end," stated Jeremy agitatedly, "If Kol doesn't kill me first, then Klaus is just going to force me to kill other people. How many is going to take, 10, 100?.
Shame flooded Sophia.
Elena shook her head, momentarily meeting Sophia's eyes before something seemed to come into focus for her. Her sister had an idea.
"If Jeremy kills one original vampire, then their entire sire line will die with them. That's thousands, maybe tens of thousands of vampires." Elena walked along the dining table, and now stood in front of Jeremy.
"Kol compelled Damon to kill you." Sophia felt a shiver at Elena's words.
"You're going to kill Kol instead," Elena proclaimed to their brother.
Dismay imbued Sophia. "No. Absolutely not."
"Sophie-" began Elena.
"He is Klaus's and Rebekah's brother. You really think they'll shrug it off if you kill Kol just for the cure's sake? No. They close ranks when it comes to family."
"We can find a way around them. We can dagger Rebekah, and ask if there's anything Bonnie can do about Klaus."
"Temporary solution, and this is the first I've heard of Damon being compelled. Your sire bond is acting up, and you have Damon goggles on." Sophia waved away Elena's rebuttal. "Besides I thought you didn't want to kill any innocent people." Sophia looked at Jeremy. "If Kol's sire line might have potentially tens of thousands of vampires, think of all the Caroline's and Stefan's and Damon's you're robbing from their loved ones," Sophia said severely.
Doubt showed in Jeremy's eyes, but Elena spoke up again.
Desperation and sanctimoniousness were evident in her words. "This is our best shot to save Jeremy. So that Klaus won't turn innocent, human people for our brother to kill. You were close with Klaus's family in your past life, Sophie. And it caused you to want to befriend and save them in spite of everything they've done to us. Your past is clouding your judgment still, and you're not thinking clearly."
"I- I'm not thinking clearly!" Sophia choked out.
"Okay, that's enough," Jeremy spoke up. "We've all had a long day, and we should sleep it off, and regroup in the morning."
Stomping the urge to slap basic critical thinking skills into her sister, Sophia made her way upstairs.
"You are to leave on their wedding day?!" Sofia exclaimed.
Amara wrung her hands. "That is when Qetsiyah said the immortality elixir will finish being prepared."
Agitation inundated Sofia. "Men and women have been killed over more trivial slights than the one you have committed against Qetsiyah. Amara, you and Silas will do well to make haste leave well before the wedding and spare our Mistress the humiliation. Leave before she can use her magic against you! Do you even want to be immortal, or is it all for Silas?"
Amara's eyes shied away from her. "Silas wants us to be together forever, to see more than our small corner of a whole world. You are treasured among our people! All they notice of me is a pleasing face and a warm body!" she spat. "It never occurred to anyone that I could be a worthwhile wife."
Until Silas.
Silas who somehow was the one to see what she saw in her childhood friend all along, and swept gracious Amara off her feet.
Silas had met Amara when she was still employed at the brothel, and Silas had thwarted unwanted advances towards her from a wealthy patron. He became a regular visitor, wanting nothing more from her than a kind ear. A handsome and charitable stranger. He had ceased visiting her not long before she left to work for Qetsiyah, where Amara had met him again as her mistress's intended.
"The risk is too much, Amara."
A/N : This chapter ranges from Season 4, Episode 9 - Episode 11.
A Veronica Mars reference was made in this chapter, it was intentional.