Chapter 9

Elijah POV

"Separatum!" I hear mother yell before we're all thrown apart.

"Manere!" she then shouts, when father and William try to get up.

"You will all stay still while we figure this out! Finn are your hands okay?" she asks. Glancing at Finn I can see he's wrapping his hands in his shirt.

"They're fine mother. Not too deep," he mutters, shooting a deadly look at William.

"Good. Go fetch the Eriksson boy and some others and go and look for Caroline. She is injured and needs help," mother told him.

"Yes mother," he said, immediately getting up to go.

"Finn," I said, grabbing his shoulder. He looked back at me. "thank you. Thank-you for trying to get her out of the way," I said sincerely.

A sad look crossed his face. "I- but I didn't make it on time Elijah. He still got her. She still got hurt. If the baby…" he started but I cut him off.

"The wound appeared too high to be a danger to the baby, the same could not be said if you hadn't intervened. Thank you brother."

Finn nodded his head and took off.

"Mother I must go. I must go find her," I pleaded with her. "she's injured, she could be…." I couldn't even finish. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"My boy. Your brother is on her trail. Of all of us, Finn is the best tracker. If anyone can find her it's him. We must deal with all of this first so she has a safe place to return to," she said, stroking my face.

I nodded.

"Please, Elijah, explain to us what is going on?" she asked.

I sighed. "a few months ago me and Caroline started spending more time together where our feelings both grew unbeknownst to us. We finally admitted our love to each other and showed eachother the way lovers do. This morning Caroline approached me to tell me she was with child and I asked her to be my wife," I explained.

I heard a scoff. "Are you sure it's yours, boy?" William asked sarcastically.

I glared at him. "Yes, I am positive. There has been no other. And as she is to be my wife I ask you to bite your tongue when you speak of her," I barked out.

"So Caroline is out there, injured, on the full moon," Kol said aloud to no one.

No one said a word.

"Oh my gods," Nik whispered. He jumped up and ran to the back of the house where he grabbed some rope.

"We will tie up father and Mr. Forbes in the caves and then we must look for her before darkness falls," Niklaus damnded.

"I agree brother. We cannot wait any longer," I said. Rushing past him towards the home. "Everyone , gather everything for the caves and get there now. We will meet at the entrance to begin our search. Hurry. Please. That is my wife and child out there," I begged.

With William and father secured in the caves with the rest of the village, my siblings and I and anyone else who volunteered, met to discuss a plan of action. Darkness was closing in.

We had just decided what groups to break out in when Henrick spoke up.

"I'm coming with you," he said, standing with his arms crossed.

"Hen," Nik started.

"No! Do not tell me I'm too young. This is Caroline. She comforted and held me when I was scared and now she's out there, scared and alone and she needs me like I needed her," he whimpered, and broke down in tears.

Rebekah immediately ran to wrap her arms around hi.. "Henrick, she'll be okay. The men will find her and we will make sure nothing every hurts her or our neice or nephew again," she said.

That got his attention. He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Oh. I'm going to be an Uncle," he whispered, a small smile breaking out on his young face.

"Come on everyone let's go. We will all meet back here just before twilight hits," I claimed.

He searched for well over an hour with his brothers before heading back to the caves to see if anyone else had found her.

Ad they approached the caves their mother came running out with Rebekah. Both of them in tears.

We ran the rest of the way.

"What? What is it?" I asked urgently.

"Henrik! He's gone. We can't find him anywhere," his mother cried.

"Dammit, Hen! I'll find him mother," Nik promised before running off into the woods.

His mother broke down and collapsed in his arms. Rebekah stepped forward.

"I think he went to look for Caroline," she whispered.

We all looked into the forest as the first howls ripped through the night.

Caroline was smart. She was so smart. She knew it was the full moon. She would hide. She'd be safe. I had to keep telling myself that. And Niklaus would find Henrik. These are the things I kept repeating to myself as I led mother back into the caves.

Nik POV

I took off into the forest following the path of smaller footprints I saw in the mud. I was trying not to panic. So much had happened so quickly.

Elijah and Caroline. The fight. Caroline being stabbed. And now her and Henrik were missing. I tried not to let the tears I could feel gathering in my eyes fall.

"Henrik!" I whisper shouted, hoping he'd hear me.

I kept walking, hoping to hear or see him.

A scream tore through the air and before I could think, I was running towards it. I skidded to a stop at the sight before me. Henrik was hanging from a branch and there were wolves jumping at his feet from the ground.

It felt like my heart stopped. He glanced up and noticed me.

"Nik! Nik help me! Please!" he cried.

I ran forward and started shouting and waving my arms, hoping to distract the wolves away from him.

"Hey! Hey! Come and get me, you bastards!!!" I yelled, kicking one of the wolves in the process. They turned on me, growls growing and stalked toward me, teeth barred. I began backing up until I heard crunching of leaves behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see a large black wolf standing behind me. I stopped. The wolf stalked closer till I could feel it's breath on my neck. He sniffed me as the others continued to move closer. Just as they were about to pounce, the large wolf behind me let out a loud yip and they stopped.

I looked around in confusion. They started to back away, the large wolf making eye contact with me before he lowered his head in what I swear could have been a bow, before backing away as well.

Suddenly, Henrik screamed, "Nik!" and his hands slipped from the branch as he tumbled to the forest floor. The wolves were a blur as they turned from me to face Henrik, loud snarls echoing off the trees before they pounced.

"Henrik!" I screamed. Trying to kick at the wolves, clawing at them, breaking my nails bloody but nothing worked. They were gone as quickly as they'd attacked and all I was left with was the lifeless, bloodied body of my little brother.

I picked him up as gently as I could and carried him back towards the caves.

As I got closer, mother and father, who I assumed they released to help find his son, ran out and stopped in front of me.

"No. No. NO!" My mother screamed, collapsing. My father tried to hold her up but his grief was too much for him to bear either as he held her on the ground where she continued to scream. Elijah, Finn, Kol and Rebekah came running out. Rebekah collapsed as well in tears, Kol reaching down to comfort her through his own tears. Elijah and Finn stepped forward, tears streaming down their faces.

"I-I tried. I tried to save him. He fell off the branch and they just jumped on him so fast. I fought them. They're so strong. I couldn't save him. I couldn't-I couldn't save," I couldn't finish my rambling, just broke down in tears, falling to my knees and bending my body over the body in my arms. Elijah and Finn stepped forward, taking Henrik from my arms and placing him in our mothers. Elijah wrapped his arms around me while I sobbed, my families grief pouring out into the forest around us as the sky began to lighten with the coming dawn.

Elijah POV

No one spoke as we sat around the fire pit outside our home. Mother had disappeared inside with Henrik's body hours upon hours ago and hadn't reappeared, father following. Raised voices could be heard once in a while but we were all too numb to pay much attention.

Movement to my left had me looking up, spotting Leif, the blacksmiths son, heading towards me.

"We've been looking all morning, Elijah. We haven't found a single trace of her. It's as if she disappeared. But please, my friend, take comfort in the knowledge that with no body found, she is likely to have survived. Keep faith in that," he said softly, clapping me on the shoulder before turning around, leaving our family to their mourning.

I turned back to the fire. I was quickly losing hope. Henrik was dead. It was hard to keep the faith that Caroline wasn't as well.

Suddenly Mother came out in a rush, a tray in her hands. Father followed closely behind, the look of determination on his face had me instantly alert.

"Children, come, grab a cup," she said, setting the tray on the log with shaking hands. We all stood and approached slowly.

"Mother?" Rebekah questioned, hesitantly.

"Come! All of you," she urged.

Finn, Kol and Nik grabbed a cup.

"Mother," I began, "I'm not really in the mood for-"

"TAKE A DAMN CUP ELIJAH!" she yelled, before clearing her throat and putting on a smile.

"Sorry. Please, take a drink, we shall toast to the gods to watch over your brother," she said quietly.

Me and Rebekah reached for cups. As did father but Mother did not.

Father raised his glass.

"To Henrik. May the gods forever watch over him in the halls of Hel until we meet again or we reach Valhalla. Skol," he finished, knocking back his drink. We all raised our glass then held it to our lips and drank.

It was disgusting, but to spit it out would be a stain on the memory of our brother. One look at my siblings faces said they felt the same.

Mother took a deep breath.

"It is done," she whispered, before turning to go back inside.

I turned to look at Rebekah questioningly but everything was starting to get fuzzy. I stumbled.

"'Lijah? 'lijah, whaaaaassss, whaasss happening?" Rebekah slurred, before falling over.

Multiple thuds had me thinking the same had happened with our brothers.

I fell forward onto my stomach, vision getting darker and darker. The last thought on my mind, as always, was Caroline before the darkness finally won.

A scream. I knew that voice. My eyes snapped open in time to see father stab our sister directly in the heart with a knife. I tried to move but couldn't. I looked around as much as I could to see Kol, Finn and Nik, dead on the ground with daggers in their hearts as well. I grew frantic, trying to release myself from the invisible bonds holding me hostage.

"Father! Father what is this? What are you doing? What have you done?" I cried.

"He did what he had to, my son," mother said calmly from my other side. I whipped my head around to look at her.

"What are you talking about! He just murdered your children!" I screamed.

"He did what he had to. We will not lose any more children. I won't allow it. Be calm, my son, it's almost over. When you wake up, you'll never have anything to fear ever again," mother said with a kiss to my forehead as Father advanced towards me with a dagger. I continued to try and free myself, but mothers magic had me immobile.

"Do not fear, boy," father murmured before his eyes ran red and black veins slithered under his eyes. I gasped in fear. He smiled, teeth sharp and grotesque. "Everything will be alright when you wake up," he said before plunging the knife into my heart and me into darkness

Caroline POV

I didn't know where I was going. I just ran. My fear was the only thing keeping me on my feet. I stopped just inside the trees to pull out the dagger. I know I'm not supposed to remove it but running with it lodged in my ribs would cause more damage. I held Finn's shirt to my wound and ran as fast and as far as I could. The light was starting to fade and I knew I needed to find shelter, a place to hide that the wolves couldn't find me. My breathing was shallow and I was slowing. My energy leaving me. But I knew if I wanted to save my baby and myself I had to keep going. I ran for another 15 minutes before I had to stop. The pain was excruciating and was spreading all over my body. I had to catch my breath. I sat on a log and breathed as deeply and quietly I could so I could still hear if someone approached. But it wasn't footsteps I heard. It was a growl.

I stiffened and sat up. Slowly turning my head to the side to see a wolf standing 10ft away. I had no where to and no energy to get up. This was it. I immediately thought of Elijah, of his gentle smile and loving hands. I heard the paws crunch the leaves on the ground as it got closer the growls growing in pitch. I closed my eyes thoughts centered on my love.

I expected the sound of the paws running to pounce. What I didn't expect was the quick shout of "Discedere daemonium!"

I quickly opened my eyes to see wolf skid to a stop with a yelp before bolting off into the opposite direction. I turned to look over my shoulder and sobbed with relief.

"Ayana!" I cried, staggering towards her before falling into her arms.

"Oh my god, Caroline. When the ancestors whispered to me about a soul in need outside my cottage I didn't know it was you. Child, what happened?" she asked while helping me stand. She glanced down at the bloodied tshirt held to my side. Her eyes widened.

"Come. You can explain later, we need to heal you quickly," she murmured. She led me forward to an open field. She stopped at the edge and closed her eyes. She raised her hand and murmured, "Esse visibilis," and before my eyes her tiny cottage appeared.

She glanced at me with a smirk. "you can never be to careful around these parts," she said while she left me inside and laid me on her bed.

"Let me see, child," she said.

"Ayana, the baby-" I cried.

"I know. Let me see, Caroline," she soothed. I removed the tshirt and she grabbed a knife to cut open the remains of my dress. She placed her hands over the wound and closed her eyes. "Invoco maiores ad sanandum puerum," she whispered, repeating the same phrase over and over as her hands began to warm against my skin. The heat radiating from them got to be too much and I cried out before all of a sudden it stopped. The heat was gone. The pain was gone. I glanced down and notice a small scar where there once was a gaping wound.

I looked up at Ayana with my mouth open and eyes wide.

"Don't look at me like that, girl. I told you I was a witch," she joked. But then her face became serious. "But just because you feel no pain does not mean you are healed completely. I just sped up the healing process to make sure you weren't critical. You will be fine but you must take it easy," she warned.

I nodded my head and took a deep breath.

"And-and the baby?" I asked quietly.

She stared into my eyes for a moment before placing a hand over my womb, bowing her head and closing her eyes.

"Ostende mihi infantem," she whispered and went silent.

The wait felt like it would kill me.

"Ayana?"

She breathed out deeply and opened her eyes with a smile.

"The babies are fine," she assured me.

I choked.

"I'm sorry repeat that?" I said

"I said the babies are fine?" she stated, confused.

"Babies?! As in more than one?" I asked, in complete shock.

She smiled even bigger if possible.

"Yes, child, you are pregnant with twins."

My hands went to my stomach. "Oh my god," I whispered. I looked up with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. "Oh my god," I laughed.

"Rest child, we will talk more in the morning, and you can explain what happened," she said. She pulled the blankets up and whispered another phrase in latin that instantly made me tired.

"No fair, that's cheating," I mumbled half asleep.

She laughed. "Well you can yell at me in the morning after you've rested. Good night, Caroline."

I was out before she even left the room.

I woke up the smell of burning sage.

I sat up and took stock of how I was feeling. I was sore but I wasn't in pain. I slid out of bed and grabbed a shift that Ayana had left for me.

I crept out of the room to see Ayana kneeling in front of the fire whispering.

"Ayana? Are you okay?" I murmured, trying not to scare her.

"There has been a death in the village," she said solemnly.

I gulped. "death by the wolves?"

She nodded her head.

I turned. "I have to go, I have to find Elijah. He needs to know we're okay and I need to know they are," I panicked.

"Caroline you can't. Something is wrong. Usually I can hear whispering from the ancestors but only when I contact them. They woke me up screaming this morning. Somethings not right," Ayana said, worried.

"I don't understa-" I started but was cut off by a loud high pitch wail that split through the air. I covered my ears and fell to the ground. A wind whipped through the small cottage like a tornado.

"Ayana! Whats happening!" I yelled

"It's the Ancestors! They're angry!" she screamed.

As quick as it had started it ended. I uncovered my head and looked up at Ayana. She looked like she was listening.

"Child, you have to go," she said urgently.

"Go? Go where?" I asked confused.

"Someone just performed magic so black the ancestors screamed loud enough for you to hear! We are all in danger. Nature has just become unbalanced, their family will become stained with the blood of innocents," she said shakily.

She looked right into my eyes.

"All I know is that they want me to "save the mother", which is you, Caroline. If I don't do something you will die," she said gravely.

I took a shuddering breath.

"Save me how? What about Elijah? Their family?"

"Caroline," she said softly. "Esther is the only other witch in the village. If I didn't defile nature, who do you think did?"

"Their family will become stained with the blood of innocents."

"No. No, I have to go back!" I cried.

"Caroline, stop! I don't know why but you and the babies MUST survive! I have to send you away," she pleaded with me. "you are the mikaelsons only hope!"

That stopped me.

"I can save them?" I asked.

She sighed. "Not today, not anytime soon, but eventually you'll be their only hope of redemption,"

I took a deep breath. "Where must I go?"

"The future. I must send you into the future to escape all of this."

"What?! How far?" I couldn't even wrap my head around the thought of traveling to the future.

"I must send you to the year 2000," she said

My eyes bugged out. "How in the hell am I going to save them in a thousand years? They'll be dead! My Elijah will be dead!" I sobbed. This was all too much.

"I don't have all of the answers, child, just know you will see them again," she comforted me.

Before I could reply, we could hear screams of terror coming from the village.

"Caroline we must hurry," she urged.

"OK. OK I will do this. But Ayana, what of my parents?" I asked hesitantly

She looked at me for a moment and shook her head.

I swallowed and nodded my head.

"What do you need of me?" I asked

The screams from the village never stopped. I had no idea what was going on but knew it revolved around the Mikaelsons.

Ayana finished setting up the spell and called me over.

"Stand in the center, Caroline," she directed me.

I stood on the center and waited.

"Here, take this," she handed me a small compass on a chain. "This will always lead you to where you're meant to be. Never lose this," she stated, putting the necklace around my neck.

"I'm trying to send you to a place as close to where you need to be as possible. I don't know where that is. But I have faith in you, Caroline. You can do this," she smiled gently.

I nodded. "Thank you, Ayana. For everything," I said tearfully.

"Think nothing of it child. I will be sending one of my descendants to you to help you along your journey when the time is right," she said.

She sat surrounded by her candles, closed her eyes and murmured, "Audite quaeso matres, mitto haec tria anno 2000. Tuta tuenda."

There was a flash of light and then darkness.

A/N:

and so closes the human chapter of the mikaelsons.

obviously theres to be a time jump in the next chapter.

Latin Translations:

- Separatum: Separate

- Manere: be still

- Discedere daemonium: leave, demon

- Esse visibilis: be visable

- Invoco maiores ad sanandum puerum: I call upon the ancestors to heal this child

- Ostende mihi infantem: show me the baby

- Audite quaeso matres, mitto haec tria anno 2000. Tuta tuenda: please hear me mothers, I'm sending these three to safety in the year 2000. Protect them