EDITED OCT22
"Mother, I don't feel right about this," Finn whispered nervously his mother chanted in Latin.
"It must be done, my child," Esther assured as she continued. "She will understand."
"She's innocent, she's done nothing wrong. Shouldn't we ask her?" Finn asked. "She may say yes."
"My dear, good son," Esther said turning to Finn. "She won't say yes while your brother is still alive. We're saving her the hardship of asking for my help," she said turning back towards the window she'd spelled to open and began chanting again. Finn turned his head away while his mother worked her magic. "Done," Esther said stepping away. "I've got it," she said raising up the ring she'd magically stolen from Brea's hand to look at it before handing it to Finn. "We're doing the right thing," she smiled before walking off. Finn looked down at the unconscious girl in her bed sadly before he sighed and followed his mother.
Brea woke up and groaned as she sat herself up and looked over at her clock to see it was 8 am. She lifted her hand up to see her ring was missing, her breath hitched and she dived across her bed to grab her phone. "Elijah!" she screeched when he answered.
"Brenna, are you ok?" he asked alarmed.
"My ring is gone," Brea said panicked.
"What?" Elijah asked after pausing for a moment to regain his composure.
"I don't know what happened. I sent Kol away last night and then…"
"You sent Kol away?"
"Yeah, I live at Matt's some of the time. It wasn't ok for him to be loitering outside after he broke his hand."
"Yes, I can see your point," Elijah admitted, "I did send him there to keep an eye on you though."
"Yeah, he did mention that," Brea said sheepishly.
"That's alright, do you know what happened?"
"Well Kol left and I started to feel really dizzy and then I just fell asleep."
"Fell asleep?"
"Or passed out, I don't know," Brea said standing up off her bed and turning around. "My window," she said as she looked at it. "It opened. I remember it opening just before my eyes closed."
"My mother and Finn aren't here, I just checked the house."
"Finn wouldn't hurt me," Brea said.
"He wouldn't want to hurt you," Elijah sighed. "But with my mother in his ear… leave it with me. I'll see what I can find out."
"Ok, thank you, Elijah. I mean it."
"Of course. Do me a favour though, don't tell anyone. Kol and Niklaus may react, well, violently."
"Um yeah, you're probably right. Just call me when you find anything out. Bye," she said hanging up the phone. As soon as she hung up her phone rang again. "Sup," Brea answered.
"Damon slept with Rebekah," Elena snapped down the phone.
"Ok," Brea said, not sure what her sister wanted.
"How could he!"
"You're not dating him?"
"Well, no. But Brea, he was gloating. Like actually gloating. Like he was proud of himself."
"You can't be mad Lena. He's free to make his own choices."
"Yeah, but Rebekah tried to kill me less than 48 hours ago."
"But she didn't. And you kind of did kill her a month ago. Come on Lena, are we seriously not past this?"
Elena groaned. "What are you up to today? It's been a bad day so far, I could use some company."
"I don't really have any solid plans. I was going to head over to the Mikaelson's, and spend the day with Kol. We didn't really get to spend a lot of time together what with Rebekah dragging me off to prepare for the dance and then him going all psycho last night."
"Right, of course," Elena sighed. "You should spend the day with him. Spend every moment possible with him. I'm sorry."
"It's ok," Brea laughed. "Hey also, I've created a task force. So far it consists of me, Matt and Care, but I'm almost certain we can get Bonnie on board."
"What's the task force for? Can I join?"
"Well, the task force is to convince you to let Jer come home. The only reason Jer was in danger was your crazy ex wouldn't give Nik his coffins. Now that's all been sorted he's not in any danger anymore. I'm getting really sick of being mean to him on video, it's so much more fun in person."
"Yeah, I mean we can work out the logistics of it, but I agree."
"What? You do? That was easy."
"Yeah, so long as it's safe. After today we'll talk about it."
"What's so special about today?" Brea asked.
"Um, it's October 3rd. Gotta go, bye," Elena said quickly hanging up.
"It's October 23rd," Brea muttered. "Girl's been watching too much Mean Girls." She walked out of her room to sit down at the table and join Matt. "Yo."
"Yo," he greeted back.
"Guess what," Brea said slapping the table as she sat down. "Operation Bring Home Jer has been successful."
"How?" Matt asked.
"I'm extremely talented Matt. Elena respects me, you know," she said and Matt snorted. "Urgh, ok, fine, Elena just called me then and we chatted for a couple of minutes and I brought it up and she just said yes."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," Brea nodded.
"What's the catch?"
"There is none. Maybe it's just that she gets lonely in that house, I mean Ric isn't there all the time. She said we'd discuss it after today," Brea said grabbing fruit off his plate."
"Why after today?"
"I don't know, I asked that and she panicked and yelled 'It's October 3rd' and hung up."
"Like Mean Girls?" he asked and Brea nodded. "Your sister's weird," Matt said slapping her hand as she went to take more fruit.
"Well, you dated her. Good thing it's not genetic weirdness though am I right," Brea laughed and Matt gave her a weird look before getting up and walking away. "Hey, come back," Brea laughed as she ran after him.
Brea had spent a couple of hours hanging out with Matt and had finished getting ready for the day and was about to leave to head over to the Mikaelson's when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Brea yelled out to Matt as she exited her room.
"Yeah, well I wasn't going to," he smirked from the couch.
"You're going to get fat. It's 12 noon you've been sitting there for three and a half hours."
"Yeah, well it's my day off," Matt shrugged throwing a grape into his mouth as the doorbell rang again. "You getting that or do I have to get up?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot," Brea said running to the front door. "Oh, hey," she said as she opened the door to reveal Nik and Kol.
"Finally, took you long enough," Nik smiled.
"Yeah I got distracted," Brea said turning to look behind her, making sure Matt hadn't gotten up.
"Yes, darling we heard, and how are you today?" Kol asked, pulling her attention back to him.
Brea leant against the door with a small smile. "Good, I was just about to head over to yours."
"Brea!" Matt called out. "Who is it?"
"Christmas carollers," Brea yelled back.
"But it's October?"
"Yeah, but they promised a really good rendition of Jingle Bells," Brea smiled turning to look at Nik and Kol while furiously nodding her head.
"No," the two brothers said simultaneously.
"Urgh," Brea groaned with an eye roll. "I don't know why I thought that might work. Jeremy would do it, 100%. So what are you guys doing here?"
"Well…" Kol went to explain but Nik cut him off.
"I got sick of all his whining while he was waiting for you and told him that we'd go to the Grill and have some drinks, we wanted to know if you wanted to join us."
"It's only midday and you're already drinking? Yeah sure, I'll come," Brea nodded. "Let me go get my phone."
"Seriously, who's at the door?" Matt asked as she walked through the living room.
"You don't want to know. I'm serious," Brea said giving him a small smile.
"Right," Matt said, realising it must be Mikaelson's.
"I'm going to head out, I might be back later tonight. I'll keep you updated," Brea said punching his shoulder playfully before running to the door. "Ok, I'm ready," she said as she left the house and closed the door behind her. As soon as she turned back around to face them Kol wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Ok, where's the car?" she asked.
"We ran," Kol said kissing her on the cheek.
"You ran all the way here! Well, we're walking across to the Grill because it's only around the corner, no running off and leaving me," she said, wrapping her arm around Kol as they made their way over to the Grill.
"Oh my god, it's my best friend Ric!" Brea yelled as they walked into the Grill and saw Ric and Meredith sitting at the bar. "Kol, you have to meet him, he's the coolest."
"He's a vampire hunter," Nik said and Kol raised his eyebrows.
"Semi-retired," Brea reasoned. "He's the one I was telling you about. My history teacher slash guardian slash personal trainer slash almost uncle. Come on, come on," she said taking his hand as the three of them made their way over to the bar.
"Oh, come on, now," Nik said to Ric as they approached the bar. "Let's not go blaming the new family in town just because you lot have got yourselves a killer at large," he said, clearly listening in on Ric and Meredith's conversation previous.
"Fill me in," Brea said quietly to Kol, tapping his chest.
"They're trying to work out who attacked him in your home. He can't remember the attack so they were discussing the possibility of it being…."
"Oh," Brea said, realising they must be contemplating whether or not Nik did it. "It wasn't Nik. I mean who'd be dumb enough to invite him in? The biggest liability is Jeremy. He has a habit of inviting bad vampires in."
Nik turned to her with a smile. "Ouch," he said and Brea smiled back at him.
"I reckon it was Bonnie," Brea said leaning over to look at Ric.
"Really?" Ric scoffed with a smile.
"Totally, have you seen her angry? That girl has rage issues, Nik can attest to that. Did you give her a bad grade? That might have set her off."
"Bonnie does well in class," Ric laughed softly.
"Better than me?" Brea asked seriously.
"You know you're top of the class," Ric responded with an eye roll. "Besides, I don't think it was a 5'2 witch that attacked me."
"You hear that," Brea said turning to Kol and pointing at herself. "I'm top of the class."
"Yeah, well it helps when you've lived through everything we cover," Ric laughed and Brea shrugged.
"Um Ric, this is Kol," Brea said smiling nervously as she placed her hands on his shoulder.
"Ah, the famous Kol Mikaelson," Ric said holding his hand out to shake Kol's. "Heard a lot about you. You know she has a curfew right?"
"Ric," Brea laughed.
"Well it is nice to finally meet the guy who makes this kid smile," Ric said smiling at Brea. "You guys here for a drink or…" he asked.
"Don't mind us. My brother, Brenna and I are just here to let off some steam. Right, Kol?" Nik said coldly, clearly not liking the current conversation.
"No!" Brea laughed slamming her shot glass down on the table. "You guys are cheating," she laughed. "Trust me, I spent a whole day playing this game with Elena and Damon and Elena and I smashed Damon's ass. You are so using your speed."
"Or maybe you're just a slow drinker," Nik laughed.
"Not a bad thing darling," Kol said kissing her cheek. "After all you are only human."
Brea's turned to him in shock. "Ok. It's on. Order another round," she said as she stumbled. "Or maybe not," she laughed before placing her hands on Nik and Kol's shoulders, "this is fun. Why do we not do this more often?"
"Because you're a lightweight," Kol laughed, grabbing her waist and pulling her in so her back was against him, effectively removing her hand from his brother.
"Lightweight is relative. Matt has the alcohol tolerance of a 14-year-old, so compared to him I'm golden. I'm currently drinking with two original vampires, I have no hope. Oh my god, no, it can't be! It is! The marvellous, talented, beautiful Caroline Forbes has just entered the building," Brea called out, loud enough for vampires to hear but not enough to draw attention. Caroline froze in the doorway of the Grill and shook her head in disbelief and began walking towards them.
"I remember her from last night," Kol mused.
"Yeah, she was wearing a dress Nik gave her."
"She looks like a tasty little thing," Kol smirked at Nik and Brea rolled her eyes and flung her hand back to playfully slap him in the chest.
"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver," Nik said under his breath as Caroline approached.
"Are you drunk?" Caroline laughed as she came up to them.
"No, I am not," Brea answered.
"Are you lying?"
"Yes, I am."
Caroline laughed. "I love you drunk. I have to go meet some people, but I'll be back. I need more drunk Brea."
"Love you," Brea smiled blowing her a kiss as Kol handed her another drink.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Love you too," she said as she began to walk off.
Nik quickly looked at Brea before straightening up and calling "Caroline."
"Oh, it's you," Caroline said, changing her demeanour completely and crossing her arms.
"Join us for a drink?" Nik offered.
"Yes," Brea said happily and both she and Kol raised up their glasses to Caroline.
"I'd happily drink with Brea, but with you? Hmm, I'd rather die of thirst. But thanks," she smiled sarcastically before turning around and storming out of the Grill.
Nik turned to look at Brea and asked. "Isn't she stunning?"
Brea nodded eagerly. "She's the best. The reigning Miss Mystic Falls," she said before leaning into Kol and sipping her drink.
Brea could feel Kol smirking from behind her and he added. "She certainly looks good walking away from you."
"I'll take that as a challenge," Nik said, putting down his drink and running off.
Brea turned around to face Kol and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It'll give us some alone time," she said while catching Nik's walk freeze for a second before he continued out of the Grill.
"I quite like this little venue," Kol said tucking Brea's hair behind her ear.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
"Because I feel comfortable bringing you. I'd never dream of bringing you to a tavern in the 1800s after dark. It'd get quite revolting."
Brea jumped on the spot. "Want to play a game of pool?" she asked wiggling her eyebrows.
"That depends, darling," he said before quickly kissing her. "Are you still terrible?"
Brea's shoulder slumped. "What? Why would you… yeah, I'm still bad," she sighed. "Last time I played with Tyler, he gave me 'special odds'. So rude," Brea said using air quotes.
"Well if you're still bad, then game on," he smirked grabbing her hand and the two ran over to the pool table.
Outside the Grill
"Caroline," Nik called as he chased her down the street.
"Are you serious?" Caroline snapped turning around. "Take a hint," she said as she continued walking.
Nik sighed and followed her. "Don't be angry, love. We had a little spat. I'm over it already."
"Oh, well, I'm not."
"How can I acquit myself?"
"You and your expensive jewellery and your romantic drawings can leave me alone."
"Oh, come on. Take a chance, Caroline," Nik pleaded before taking a seat on a park bench. "Talk to me. Come on, get to know me. I dare you."
"Fine," Caroline sighed before sitting down next to him. "So what do you want to talk about?" she asked awkwardly.
"I want to talk about you," he said and Caroline scoffed. "Your hopes, your dreams. Everything you want in life."
Caroline laughed. "Just to be clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you. I know the real reason you flirt with me."
"Oh, really? And what's that?"
"Brea," Caroline said and Nik's face fell. "It's ok," Caroline sighed turning to face him. "It must be hard. She told me you two met first. It'd be hard losing her to your brother," she said and Nik looked away sadly. "If it helps, I saw her watching us at the ball, she definitely looked jealous," she lied.
"I'd never do anything about it. I could never put her in that position," Nik said after a few moments of silence.
"I get it. Trust me I get it. No one ever picks me. I had the biggest crush on Matt in high school and he chose Elena, him and I dated a year after they broke up but still. It was the same with Stefan, he picked Elena. So I get it. Seeing the person you want to be with, be happy with someone you love. And you've had to do it for a thousand years."
"You think she's jealous?" Nik asked.
"I went to her house the other day to hang out and I saw the painting you made for her. I asked her about it and she just smiled, but it wasn't her usual smile, it was different, it was real. I haven't seen her smile like that in over a year. I don't know if she's jealous the way you want her to be, but she feels something," Caroline said, feeling guilty that she was exploiting his feelings for her best friend to distract him. "How did you two meet?" she asked to change the subject.
"She saw me painting in the woods," Nik smiled. "We were friends immediately," he said as he continued telling Caroline stories of him and Brea.
Inside the Grill
"Miss, miss, miss, miss, miss," Brea chanted under her breath as Kol lined up his shot.
"That's not very ladylike," Kol smiled, kissing her cheek after sinking the ball before he pulled away and looked around. "Although, you're probably the most ladylike in here," he smirked.
"Culture shock my dear, you will have to adapt," Brea smiled wrapping her arms around his waist.
"I'll admit, there are some perks to this century, the mobile telephones, internet, the computers," he said and Brea raised her eyebrows, shocked he'd caught on so quick. "Elijah made us take a crash course while you and my sister were getting ready yesterday."
"Ah," Brea nodded.
"Although I had a look through Bekah's wardrobe and women do seem to dress like prostitutes in this century," he said and Brea shook her head.
"You know she told me that's exactly what she thought when she first tried clothes on, but now she's a fan, so I guess it grows on you. Come on, take your next shot," Brea said pulling away and tapping his shoulder. "Miss, miss, miss, miss, oh come on!" Brea complained as he sunk another ball. "Are you serious?"
"Have my next go," Kol said rolling his eyes.
"Awesome, thanks," Brea smiled as she grabbed her cue and leaned down.
"Didn't take much convincing," Kol muttered leaning down next to her before he smirked and put his hands on her hips.
"What are you doing?" Brea asked.
"Helping you line it up," he said quietly as he moved behind her and put his head next to hers.
"You're distracting me," Brea breathed.
"It's only fair."
"How?"
"Well," he said. "You standing there is distraction enough for me, and then you go and start chanting for me to miss, this is payback."
"Oh come on," Brea groaned, turning her head to look at him slightly.
They stared at each other for a few moments, unable to break eye contact, when Kol stood up straight and tapped her hips. "Alright, make your shot darling."
Brea let out a shaky breath and hit the ball with the cue, but managed to miss everything. "You frazzled me! That's cheating," she whined.
Kol smiled at her before he began walking towards her. Brea smirked and started walking backwards until her back hit the cue rack and he stopped right in front of her. "Darling," he whispered pushing her hair away from her face before he leaned down and kissed her. "I just want to take you away from here, away from all this hybrid, doppelganger madness. Anywhere you want. Italy, France, back to England, I'll even go to Bulgaria with you if you want."
"You hate going to Bulgaria."
"Yeah, well, you know I'll go anywhere, so long as you're beside me," he smiled.
Brea let out a small breath and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss. "Well," she smirked pulling away gently. "I might not go anywhere with you if you don't let me win," she smirked.
Kol laughed and ran his hands down her arms. "I like pretty things with sharp tongues," he flirted softly as his eyes darkened. Brea froze as she locked eyes with him and she let out a shaky breath as she snaked her arms around his neck.
"We're in public you know," Brea breathed.
"We can always get out of here?" Kol suggested and Brea nodded.
"Let's go."
"Alright," Ric said coming up behind Kol. "I'm sorry, but she's practically my daughter, so back off."
"Ric, stop," Brea said, breaking eye contact and letting go of Kol to look at Ric. "We're just leaving ok?"
"Woah, no, you're not staying the night at a boy's house," Ric said as Meredith came and stood near Brea.
"I think Brenna is capable of making her own decisions and we are married you know," Kol said annoyed as he turned to face Ric, only to be met with a dagger to the chest.
Brea went to scream but Meredith slapped her hand over her mouth. "Shh, shh," she cooed in Brea's ear trying to calm her down.
Brea looked at Ric devastated as she struggled against Meredith. "I'm really sorry kid, ok? I'm really sorry. I didn't want to do it, it's only until Elena gets away then we'll undagger him, I promise. I'm really sorry," he said as he adjusted Kol's body weight so it didn't look suspicious. He reached out with his spare hand to try to put his hand on Brea's cheek but she jerked away. "I deserve that," he said sadly. "Look, you need to know, it's not my idea. I don't approve of any of this. But I can't let Elena die. I have to look after the humans," he said before he dragged Kol's body away and out the side door.
As soon as Ric was out of sight, Brea flung her elbow back into Meredith's stomach and Meredith released her. "What's going on?" Brea snapped.
Meredith panted as she grabbed at her stomach. "Ric got a call from Damon. Rebekah has Elena and she's going to kill her. He didn't want to, but this was the only way," she groaned.
"How does daggering Kol save Elena from Rebekah!" Brea snapped before her eyes widened and she ran around Meredith and out the front of the Grill. "Nik," she yelled as she saw him across the square shaking Caroline. As soon as she called him he stopped and ran over to her.
"What happened love?" he asked holding her steady by the elbows, trying to stop her from panicking. "Breathe sweetheart, breathe. Talk to me… Kol," his eyes widened as he realised Kol must've been daggered.
"They went around the side," Brea said shakily. "Help me," she pleaded, grabbing Nik's hand and running around to where she knew Ric took Kol's body.
As they reached the side of the Grill Nik released Brea's hand and turned to her. "Stay here," he said before running towards Ric, who was about to hand over Kol's body to Stefan and Damon. Nik ran to Kol and ripped out the dagger before shoving Ric into a wall making Brea gasp. Brea went to run down to check on Kol and Ric, when Nik shoved Stefan towards the steps in front of Brea's path making her freeze, she knew she'd be in the way if she continued, but she needed to get to Kol. Nik turned to Damon menacingly and Brea slowly crept around Stefan and down the steps, when she reached the bottom of the steps she ran to check on Ric to make sure he was still breathing, and then she ran to Kol, kneeling down beside him and taking his hand. "I should have killed you months ago," Nik snarled at Damon.
"Do it," Damon taunted. "It's not going to stop Esther from killing you."
"What?" Brea asked, her head snapping up and Damon looked at her guiltily.
"What did you say about my mother?" Nik asked walking threateningly towards Damon.
Brea stood up and moved to stand just behind Nik. "What's going on?" she asked Damon, her eyes filled with worry.
Damon looked at Brea with soft, apologetic eyes, he wanted to say something to her, but then his eyes hardened as he turned his gaze to Nik. "You didn't know I was friends with your mommy? Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do."
Nik growled and was about to attack Damon when Elijah's voice boomed. "Leave him."
"Elijah," Brea breathed spinning around to look at him.
"We still need him, Niklaus," Elijah said to his brother.
Brea saw that the two brothers were fine to work out the problem at hand and so she returned to Kol's side. "Please wake up," she begged quietly.
"What did mother do?" Nik asked. "What did she do Elijah?"
Elijah ignored Nik and came down the steps and walked straight towards Damon. "You tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now," he threatened. Brea let out a small choking noise and she gently shook Kol's body, she needed him.
"You told me we had until after 9," Damon tried to reason.
"I'm sure Rebekah would be more than happy to start her work early."
"We know where they are, the old witch's house," Damon grumbled.
"Excellent, you know what to do then," Elijah said smoothly.
"We'll get it done," Damon nodded.
"Niklaus, get our brother, we'll meet you at my car," Elijah said.
"Brenna," Nik said.
"I've got her," Elijah assured. "Go," he said.
Nik nodded and walked over to Brea, kneeling down. "I've got him, love." Brea nodded and released her grip on Kol allowing Nik to pick him up and run him off.
Elijah walked over to Brea and took her hands to help her up. "Let's go," he said, holding one of her hands as he placed the other on the small of her back as he led her away from the alley.
"Brenna," Damon called out after her, but she ignored him and kept walking with Elijah.
"What's going on?" Brea asked, her voice shaking in fear.
"It appears my mother has linked all of my siblings together using doppelgänger blood," he explained bluntly. "If one of us dies…"
"You all die," Brea realised. "Elena helped Esther with this?" Brea asked, her eyes filling with tears.
Elijah nodded. "She told me she just wanted to eliminate Niklaus, she didn't know she'd be linking us all together."
"But she could've told us."
"I know," Elijah agreed. "I thought Elena's character was honest, I was wrong. I went into my mother's room to investigate her taking your ring and uncovered her plan. No doubt she has something nefarious planned for you as well. We need to find her while the Salvatore's cut off her supply of magic. We'll find a way to save us all, I promise," he said as they reached his car.
"Kol," Brea breathed out in relief as she saw he had woken up. She broke away from Elijah and ran at him, throwing herself into his arms. "Oh thank god," she sighed as she buried her head into his neck. She looked up to see Nik watching them and she mouthed 'thank you' to him and he nodded and gave her a small smile.
"We need to go," Elijah said as he came up next to Brea and Kol and opened the door to the backseat of his car, allowing Brea to climb in and Kol got in after.
"What is going on Elijah?" Nik asked as he got into the front seat. Brea wrapped her arms around Kol and buried her head into his neck as Elijah filled in the brothers.
"We're here. This is where the Salvatore's said they'd be. Remember we just have to stall them until the the link is broken," Elijah reminded as he and Nik stepped out of the car.
Kol turned to Brea and grabbed her face and kissed her. "I love you," he said. "I will always love you," he whispered before opening the car door and getting out.
"Hey!" Brea complained as he shut the door on her. She reached over to open it herself but Elijah had locked it. "Elijah! Hey! Open this car!" Brea yelled. "Seriously, what car can't be opened from the inside?" Brea muttered. "Hey!" she yelled at their retreating figures. "Kol! Please," she screamed desperately as she banged on the window. "No, no, no," she screamed as she slumped into the seat crying when she could no longer see them. That might be the last time she saw him. All of a sudden she had an idea and she pulled down the middle seat and climbed through into the trunk of the car. She grabbed out her phone and turned on her flashlight and waved it around until she found the safety latch to the trunk door and pulled it until the trunk flew open. "Yes!" she cheered to herself as she tried to climb out, getting her foot caught and ended up tumbling onto the ground. "Urgh," she groaned as she stood up. She went to take a step forward when all of a sudden, she felt herself being picked up and run.
"Relax," a voice said as Brea was placed back onto her feet.
"Finn?" Brea asked shocked. "Oh no," she panicked as she turned to flee.
"Hey, hey," Finn said running in front of her. "Look, we're in the tunnels, you can't go anywhere, just let me talk to you," he pleaded.
"Leave me alone," Brea said stepping away.
"I have something for you."
"I don't want it."
"Brenna, I'm trying to help you."
"By killing Kol?" Brea asked sarcastically.
"I don't want to kill my family," Finn yelled. "That's not why I'm doing this," he said quieter and Brea tilted her head. "I need this to end. I can't live like this Brenna. You know better than anyone. I know you feel the same."
"There's no way you can do this without killing them also?"
"Brenna, none of us should exist," he argued and Brea crossed her arms and looked away.
"Here," Finn said waking forward and grabbing Brea's hand before she had a chance to pull away.
"Let me go," Brea snapped.
"Just take it," Finn said putting something in Brea's hand and closing her fingers over it.
Brea yanked her hand away from him and watched him carefully as she slowly opened her hand and gasped. "My ring!" she exclaimed. "You took it, why?"
"Technically Esther took it," Finn tried to reason. "And I took it from Esther."
"You what?"
"She wanted to remove the reincarnation spell on you."
Brea looked down. "So if I die…"
"It's for good," Finn said.
"And? Did you let her do it?"
Finn shook his head. "I told her I left the ring at the house. I know you don't like living this way, but you should decide when it ends."
"Then why do you get to decide for the rest of your family? You're a hypocrite."
"You're right," Finn said sadly. "I'm sorry," he said grabbing her hand and kissing her knuckles. "You know, you were always more family to me than they ever were. You know it's true. When we found you in France that first time, you saved me. I've never forgotten that," he said before disappearing.
Brea took a deep breath and started walking around. "How the hell do I get out of here," she muttered to herself, pulling her phone out to see it had no signal. "Of course."
"Brea?" someone spoke from behind her.
"Ahh," Brea said shocked spinning around to see her sister. "Nope," she said turning back around and continuing on.
"Brea, Brea, wait," Elena said chasing after her.
"Go away," she snapped.
"Please, I can explain."
"Brenna, I thought I heard you," Rebekah said coming towards her and pushing past Elena.
"Get me out of here," Brea said to Rebekah.
Rebekah turned and smirked at Elena. "With pleasure. I think she likes me better than you. That's got to hurt. You screwed her over for the last time Elena. Let's go," she said sauntering forward and whisking Brea off out of the caves.
"I have to call Kol, he'll be worried," Brea said as she dialled Kol's number.
"Yes, how did you get down there?" Rebekah asked.
"Um, Finn wanted to say bye," Brea said awkwardly. "He's not answering," Brea said pulling the phone away and dialling Nik. "What's the point in him having a phone if he won't use it," she muttered to herself.
"Where are you?" Nik asked as soon as he answered the phone.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm with Rebekah. Is Kol ok? He didn't answer his phone."
"He's fine, he's right here. You have to teach him how to use that phone better love. He was just screaming at it, the idiot didn't know how to answer it. Meet us back at the house," Nik said hanging up, he was clearly in a mood.
"Got a car?" Brea asked Rebekah.
"Over there," Rebekah said and the two girls walked over to the car and got in. "Bex," Brea said before she could start driving, "I'm really, really sorry. I know how excited you were to get your mum back."
Rebekah nodded gently and then burst into tears. "I just want my mum," she cried.
"I know," Brea said sadly pulling her into a hug and letting her cry on her shoulder.
As Brea and Rebekah pulled up to the Mikaelson Mansion, Brea saw Kol pacing out the front. As soon as Rebekah put the car in park Brea flung open her door and ran to Kol, throwing herself into his arms. "I was so worried," she whispered.
"You were worried… you disappeared from a locked car, my whole world nearly ended," Kol said quietly, not wanting his siblings to hear. "Where did you go?" he asked.
"Finn…"
"I'm going to kill him," Kol snapped.
"He just wanted to say sorry and goodbye," Brea said trying to calm him down. "Besides, you kill him and you die too, so we don't want that," she said with a small smile. "Is Elijah here?"
"No, he ran out of town. He asked you to call him tomorrow," Kol said and Brea nodded. "We need to go too."
"What?"
"We have to go. We can't stay here. We need to split up, it's safer."
"Kol…"
"Brea, please. We can't stay here."
"I can't just leave, my life is here. I have family."
"Family that are trying to kill us."
"Elena's not my only family. I'm not sure she's even that anymore. I have Matt, he's all alone. Ric, he only attacked you to save Elena. There's Jeremy, we were just going to bring him home. I have a life, I'm not ready to leave it just yet. Please," Brea said grabbing his hands. "We'll leave, just, not right now. Just let me wrap things up here first."
Kol nodded. "So what do we do?"
"I have an idea," Brea said pulling out her phone and sending off a text to her sister.
B - Hey, when you came to town and wanted to avoid being found, were did you stay?
K - Mrs Flowers Bed and Breakfast, it's just outside the town's border. Last place anyone would look. Why? Who are you two running from? I bought you some heels from Italy, I sent them to your house you should get them next week. Also, call me tomorrow, I have to tell you about this guy that tried to chat me up today xx
B - Will call you in the morning and fill you in! Can't wait, love you!
"I have a place we can stay," Brea smiled up at Kol. "Just outside of town, trust me, no one will look for us there."
"How'd you hear about it?"
"It's where Katerina stayed when she came to town and didn't want to be found."
Kol nodded. "must be good then."
"Oh, you'll hate it. But no one will find us there, go pack a bag of stuff for us and I'll meet you in the car," Brea said kissing him before he ran off to pack. Brea sighed and stepped inside the house and headed towards the drawing-room. "Knock, knock," Brea said from the doorway.
"Come in," Nik smiled.
"I wanted to check and see how you were."
"I'm alright," Nik said avoiding her eyes.
"Hey, what's going on? Is this just about your mother or did Caroline say something to upset you?" Brea asked placing her hand on his arm.
"No, Caroline, she gave me hope for something I'd almost given up on," Nik said vaguely. "But I need to be better," he rambled.
"Hey. I believe in you. You can do anything you set your mind to. If you want to do a gallery in Mystic Falls I'm on board. I think it's really cool."
"You think I'm talking about an art show?"
"Aren't you? We were talking about that the other day? Did you mean something else?"
"No. That's what I meant. Are you leaving?" Nik asked. "I could hear Kol packing."
"I'm not leaving, we're just not staying right in town, you know, for safety. If you want we can do something tomorrow? Take your mind off whatever is bothering you. I can catch up with you later in the day?"
"I'd like that," Nik smiled.
"Ok, I'll text you. Bye," she said walking out of the house and hopping into the waiting car with Kol.
"Ready love?" Kol asked.
"You and me, always and forever," Brea smiled as Kol drove away to the bed and breakfast.