Hello! I come with yet another chapter. Sooner than you all probably thought it would be, but I managed to revise another chapter to publish as quickly as I could. This chapter was a bit of a filler, but I still needed it to establish a few things and give background to future events and whatnot. The next one will be more to everyone's liking, I think. I hope you all will enjoy it.
Now, let me respond to your awesome reviews:
-xenocanaan: I am happy that you enjoyed it. Also, I am a fan of foxes, but obviously, there is symbolism to this and a bit of foreshadowing (*wink*).
-brigitm28: Yes! More Klaus and Juniper bonding time! I am having fun writing moments between these two. I am so happy that this version of Juniper is enjoyed and I honestly didn't think she'd be so liked, so continuing to do her justice has become a mission for me. The scene of the fox started out as fun, but I made it into a bit of a foreshadowing moment for Gwen. As for Klaus and Gwen's relationship, I struggle with it but only because I love it so much and want to keep the characters as true to themselves as possible but also give some light to the change that their relationship causes in one another. Klaus shifting? Hmm, I'll just leave it at being one of the people who was so excited to see him shift at one point and extremely disappointed that we didn't see it on screen. Being Klaus' kid, Gwen has become numb or used to many things, so her character isn't easy to scare or horrify. For Finn and Sage, I wanted to give them a bit more backstory and stuff, MAYBE more, but I am not spoiling.
-johanne: Yes, that scene of Damon using Rebekah was off and I don't like how easily the Originals get manipulated or betrayed, so I try to curve that into something more realistic to the circumstances or just change it. There's gonna be a lot of that in the future.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from The Vampire Diaries and claim no ownership over anything pertaining to it. I only own my characters.
decisions, decisions
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Anaheim, California
5 years ago
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Disney California Adventure Park was a terrifying place. There were endless lines. Children were screaming and running everywhere. Tired parents yearned to seclude themselves in a corner, preferably with some shade. There were people annoyed with the annoyed parents who had screaming children. There was so much unnecessary noise and crowds of people bumping into one another. Too many people arguing and not enjoying a day out. Still, Klaus believed humans preferred to focus on the negatives rather than the positive side of things. It was simply ridiculous how chaotic they made everything out to be without needing to.
"Niki!" an eleven-year-old Gwen called as she pulled on his hand.
Klaus looked down at her and smiled. "What is it, princess?" She almost looked like a princess, wearing a light pink dress that reached her calf and featured short puff sleeves, a square-cut neckline, and a flounce hem. To top it off, she wore a tiara he had gotten her from a nearby stand that sold accessories, which helped push back her long bangs from her face. The Original hybrid knelt in front of her and held her midsection. "What does the birthday girl wish for?" He smiled when she giggled. "Anything she asks for, I will fulfill."
Gwen grinned and pointed at the stand they had just left. "We forgot to buy you something."
"Come again?" asked Klaus.
Some minutes later, Klaus had to reluctantly buy a baseball cap that had Goofy ears to please Gwen. She wanted him to enjoy himself and have something to wear like her. He had never been more grateful to have been given daggers to force his siblings to sleep. He would have never been able to live through their harassment if they ever saw him. Still, if it meant keeping a smile on her face, he would face all sorts of humiliations. This had been the happiest she'd been when being outside after her kidnapping the year before.
"All right," Klaus sighed as he let go of her hand to look at the map he had put away in his pocket. "Where do you want to go next, sweetheart?" He hummed as he surveyed their options in the section of Hollywood Land. He wasn't worried about the monster lines, not when he had the advantage of compelling them to the front of the line. "There's the ride of that animated film with the monsters you like so much. It's the closest one. What do you think?" He glanced down at her, but his stomach dropped when she wasn't by his side. He looked to his other side and didn't see her there either.
No, not again. Klaus refused to believe that she wasn't there with him. She had just been there with him. He looked at the ground as he turned, believing that if he did, she would appear out of thin air. Suddenly, he could feel the adrenaline rush that originated from his anxiety. He could feel his heart beating so fast and hard that it thumped harshly against his ribcage. He was prepared to burn the entire park to the ground to find her. Whoever it was that had taken her, he would tear them limb from limb before ripping out their organs one by one. There would be no mercy.
"Niki!"
Klaus paused as he turned to the voice that had called out to him. He blinked a few times to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. There Gwen stood in front of a place called Schmoozies!
"I want a smoothie," Gwen said as she pointed at the establishment, her throat itching for something cool.
Klaus exhaled heavily as his heart calmed and his stomach settled. He walked over to the young girl and picked her up to crush her against his chest, cradling her head against his shoulder with a hand on the back of her head. He breathed a sigh of pure relief when her tiny arms wrapped around his shoulders with one hand stroking the hair at his nape, which helped reassure him that she was there with him.
"What's wrong?" Gwen asked him.
Klaus collected himself and managed to smile before pulling her away to meet her worried gaze. "Nothing, sweetheart. You just scared me a bit when you left my side," he explained, keeping his voice even to not have her think he was upset. He wasn't about to ruin her day.
"I'm sorry," Gwen said, her voice small. "I won't do it again. I'll always tell you where I'm going."
"Good girl," Klaus said as he placed her on the ground, smiling when she immediately grabbed his hand. "Now, let's get you that smoothie," he offered, distracting her from the ordeal.
Gwen smiled widely. "Okay!"
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Mystic Falls, Virginia
Present Day
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Sighing at the memory, Klaus rubbed his eyes from where he sat on a sofa in front of a lit fireplace with a glass of scotch in his hand. It had been a few days since Finn's death, yet he still felt the same as he did when he found out about his brother's demise. His shoulders were too heavy and stiff. There were too many things to do. There were loose ends that needed to be dealt with. There were also too many worries as a father that he didn't want to deal with, knowing that Gwen wouldn't approve of any of his plans concerning her safety. There was just too much to be done and decisions to make before they could leave Mystic Falls.
Oh, and there was also the issue of Rebekah not being too keen on leaving, which was an argument he shelved for later. Still, his mind was already made up concerning one of his worries that he was not looking forward to dealing with. There was no way that he would change his mind and it would be for the best concerning the person involved. That was a problem he would have to deal with later. All that was left to do was retrieve the remaining stakes that could kill him and his remaining siblings. Yes, he didn't mourn Finn for long, feeling too much resentment toward his elder brother, but he was not going to risk what was left of his family.
"Nik," Gwen's voice filtered into the room.
Klaus looked up to find the halfling still clad in her pajamas and peeking into the room, holding onto the doorframe. "Is it time?"
"Yeah," she answered with a nod of her head.
Klaus nodded as he finished what remained of his drink before standing up, leaving behind the glass on the coffee table. He followed Gwen to the front door of the mansion. Juniper was there with her bags on the floor around her feet, talking with Rebekah. It had been a few days since Finn's death and things had calmed down, so Juniper had thought it best to finish her business with her landlord and former boss to close the shop and move on.
"I can't believe you're leaving already. Promise to call," Gwen said with a pout as she embraced the witch. "And promise to come back."
Squeezing Gwen one last time before pulling away, Juniper smiled at the halfling. "Trust me, you ain't getting rid of me that easy." She glanced at Klaus. "You good with that?"
With a half-hearted roll of his eyes, Klaus smiled. "Might as well." He cleared his throat. "I truly mean it when I say I am thankful for everything you've done."
"Well," Juniper began, deciding not to tease or taunt him too much, "you're welcome. Don't miss me too much."
"Let's not hold our breath," Klaus said, grinning.
Both Gwen and Rebekah exchanged a look when they noticed something weird about Klaus and Juniper. It was odd to watch them be civil toward one another without aggressive bickering or threats being thrown between them. Normally, they were throwing insults at one another, mostly being passive-aggressive to push each other's buttons. Neither the Original vampire nor the halfling were sure if this change was good or bad.
"So, straight to Florida and back to Chicago?" Klaus asked Juniper.
The witch nodded as she grabbed one of her bags. "Just need to clear things up with Missus Bixby before moving forward with selling the bookstore. After that, you all can have me all to yourselves."
"Make it sooner rather than later," Gwen said as she embraced Juniper, tightening her hold as she tried to prolong the inevitable.
The young hybrid had started to get used to living with the witch, so it was hard to imagine waking up without Juniper in the house. She also liked the idea of having someone else to talk to and be with other than Klaus. The halfling had been so used to being on her own or with just Klaus that sharing a home with others was exciting for her. She had even gotten used to having Rebekah around. It was hard to imagine what would come after their business in Mystic Falls was settled. While a lot had happened, the small moments of domesticity within a family had made her happy.
"I'll miss you," Gwen mumbled into the witch's shoulder.
"I'm just a spell away," Juniper chuckled at her own joke, at which both Klaus and Rebekah halfheartedly rolled their eyes. "That goes for the both of you, as well," she said to the Originals.
Rebekah grinned. "I'll be keeping that in mind. I refuse to go back to being the only girl in my house." She glanced at Gwen. "We need more numbers."
Juniper chuckled. "Us girls have to stick together, right?"
"Yeah," Gwen answered.
Choosing not to draw out the farewells, Juniper was quick to load her luggage in the trunk of the taxi that Klaus had called for her to drive her to the airport. He had felt charitable enough to pay for her entire trip. Gwen and Rebekah gave their final goodbyes once more before they soon found themselves staring at the taxi car as it pulled out of the driveway. Klaus was surprised to find that he felt disappointed with the witch's departure, but he shook it off and focused on everything that he needed to take care of before leaving behind the small town of Mystic Falls.
Rebekah sighed heavily. "It's going to be a bit more quiet without her here."
"Good riddance," Klaus hummed before he grunted when Gwen elbowed him in the stomach.
"So," Gwen began as she looked between the siblings, "any plans for today?"
"Well, I have a dance to save," said Rebekah. "I have no idea why Caroline wanted the seventies, but I managed to convince the Dance Committee to change it to a twenties theme. A flapper beats bell bottoms any day." She then turned to walk back inside the mansion to gather her things and go to school. She had to be at school earlier than usual to make sure everything was perfect.
"Twenties?" asked Gwen, growing excited. "That era was so cool! Flappers, jazz, speakeasy, and the art were so amazing." It was a decade she loved reading about during her homeschooling.
"You're invited, Weny," Rebekah yelled over her shoulder.
"What about you?" Klaus asked the young hybrid. "Anything planned for today?"
Gwen shrugged. "I was planning on doing a bit of yoga and see where the day takes me."
Klaus nodded as he hummed. "Well, since there's not much on your agenda, I'd like for you to accompany me running my errands. There are a few things I want to talk to you about."
Gwen frowned as she watched Klaus go back into the house without another word. She was curious to know what it was that he wanted to talk to her about. She imagined that it had something to do with his brother's death, which worried her. Still, she wouldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe he would want to talk about what they would be doing after he retrieved all the stakes. It made her wonder what she wanted to do, especially when she had yet to make up her mind about Kol's offer.
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Stefan's mind was in complete mayhem, but he somehow had it all under control. It wasn't like before when he was ripping towns apart, bathing in blood, always on the edge without a care in the world because it was easier. He was still on the edge from his latest ripper period, and he could barely function without feeling like his blood was going to boil under his skin, but he was somehow still in control of himself. No itch made him want to scratch the skin off himself. The craving for blood was still there, but he didn't feel like he couldn't have a drink of blood without ripping someone's head off. For the first time in his life, he was not afraid of the darkest parts of himself. Still, there was much to do that didn't allow him to lose himself in his thoughts for too long.
Klaus was demanding the remaining white oak stakes or else they'd have a very unhappy Original hybrid rampaging through the town. It was bad enough that they had killed one of Klaus' siblings and gotten away with it with their lives, but he didn't want to keep poking the bear when it was already awake. Then, there was the weird thing going on between Damon and Elena. He loved her. He loved her so much and was still able to see a future together with her, but he was no fool. He saw that there was something that tied Elena and Damon together, something that he couldn't ignore, so he wanted them to figure things out between themselves during their trip to Denver to retrieve Jeremy.
There was no time for rest, and peace appeared to be far from his reach. After so much anger and hatred fueling him to keep moving forward, all he wanted was peace and to live life, be it with or without Elena. He was prepared for the eventuality that she would not want to be with him after everything that happened. Somehow, he was strangely all right with that.
"I assume they've got Jeremy by now?" Alaric asked from where he sat on the bed inside one of the dungeons in the cellar of the Salvatore Boarding House.
"They should be on their way back," Stefan answered from his spot sitting against the wall with a glass of bourbon, having given Alaric the bottle. "Haven't heard from them. Elena's worried about him, knowing that she can't count on his ring anymore."
"Who knows," Alaric mumbled with a smirk. "Maybe his alter ego is a pot-smoking, hippie pacifist."
Stefan huffed out a small laugh. "Yeah, maybe."
"I can't say I thought mine would be so hostile and militant," said Alaric.
"Actually, it makes perfect sense," Stefan pointed out, causing Alaric to give him an inquisitive look. "Your wife left you to become a vampire and your girlfriend was killed by one."
Alaric sighed as he began to play with the very ring that had caused him so much trouble lately, let alone being the reason why he had an alter ego. "He must really hate me. Here I am, the failed hunter-slash-drinking buddy of vampires."
"Ah, he's too judgmental," Stefan said with a wave of his hand.
"The thing is, he's me." Alaric had accepted the fact that his alter ego was not someone else. He recognized what this other person felt, he felt it now and then when his mind took him too deep into his subconscious, but he always left confident that all that darkness was locked away. "I'm not compelled, I'm not possessed. There's no humanity switch. What drives him is me."
"No. No, he's not you." Stefan shook his head. "He's the darkest parts of you. The parts we all have."
"Well, this is depressing, isn't it?" a new voice said, causing both Stefan and Alaric to become alert when they found Klaus leaning against the entrance to the dungeon with Gwen standing behind him.
"So, this is the errand," Gwen stated with a sigh, having hoped to avoid torture and murder.
"I'll take you to lunch after we're done here," Klaus told the young hybrid before turning to face Stefan as the young vampire stood in front of him. "Oh, and I found this," he paused as he took out one of the last white oak stakes from his coat, which he handed to Gwen, "upstairs. Now, by my count, there should be one more."
Stefan used his body to shield Alaric from the Original hybrid, unsure of what Klaus was capable of doing to get the last stake. "Yeah, well, it's gonna take a little more time."
"Why, because we're waiting for that one to pass out?" Klaus asked as he pointed to Alaric. "No, thanks. I think I'll just kill him."
"Is that your answer to everything?" Gwen asked Klaus offhandedly as she inspected the stake, finding the wood to be a rather pretty shade of color. Her comment had Klaus rolling his eyes, but he ignored her.
"Well, then you won't know the location of the other stake," Stefan tried to reason with the Original.
"I can live with that," Klaus said with a shrug as he took a step toward Alaric but was stopped by Stefan holding him in place with a hand to the hybrid's chest.
"Well, I can't," Stefan said as he took a step back from the Original. "When we staked Finn, we discovered that killing an Original vampire killed its entire bloodline. Now, I don't know which one of you I'm descended from, but I'd really rather not find out by dying." He cleared his throat. "So, why don't we just find the stake, and destroy it, so we can all be safe?"
"So, the fate of the entire vampire race depends on you finding a stake," Klaus stated more than asked Stefan as he glanced at Alaric. He was not in the mood to wait. "And to get it, we need you to pass out," he said as he pointed at Alaric before looking back at Stefan. "Which means that I feel totally justified doing this." In a blink of an eye, Klaus rushed toward Alaric and broke his neck, which had Gwen gasping in surprise and Stefan scowling at the hybrid. "There," Klaus sighed as he turned to Stefan. "Sleeping like a baby."
"Really?" Gwen questioned Klaus.
"Yes, really," Klaus said as he stepped closer to Stefan. "Get the stake."
Both hybrids left the Salvatore Boarding House with one of the remaining stakes and searched for an Italian restaurant, given that Klaus was treating Gwen and Italian food was a favorite of hers. It occurred to the Original hybrid that it had been quite some time since he had last spent some quality time with Gwen. After driving around for a while, they found a suitable restaurant that met Klaus' standards. Well, it was more along the lines of Gwen having to force him to settle for the next one they found. Her stomach was not happy, so she was not in the mood to put up with a snobby Klaus.
As Klaus sat inside the quaint restaurant across from Gwen, he wondered why the gang dictated by one Elena Gilbert was still hellbent on killing him, as if they had to kill him. Yes, he killed a few loved ones, but he thought they'd be over it by now. Then, Stefan stole his family, which he got back with a resurrected Esther. Miraculously, he and his siblings behaved. The only reason he had stayed for so long was because of his mother and the damned white oak that had been discovered. After that was dealt with, he was gone. If that threat was gone, there would be nothing in the world that could threaten him and his family, so there would be no need for hybrids and no need to use Elena to make them. So, again, he had to wonder why the Salvatores and their girlfriend were so against seeing the bigger picture and intent on killing him. It made no sense to him.
"Penny for your thoughts," Gwen spoke up when she noticed his faraway gaze, taking a sip of her piña colada and a bite from some delicious mozzarella sticks that were in the shape of a triangle, which she found funny.
Klaus cleared his throat as he took a sip of his wine. "Just thinking about the stake."
Gwen hummed. "We'll get it back. You just need to be patient."
"Trying to be," Klaus sighed.
"I am curious about something," said Gwen. "Damon wasn't there."
"He is on a trip to Denver with Elena to get her little whelp of a brother to find out which Original bloodline they belong to. They think they're being smart by thinking they're sneaking around without me noticing, but they are just too predictable and it helps that I have eyes and ears everywhere," Klaus explained. "They're running to find out if it's not me they're descended from to drive the last stake through my heart."
"So, Kol's up there with Jeremy, so maybe he can stop them," Gwen hummed.
Sighing, Klaus checked the last message Kol had sent him. "They managed to give him the slip somehow, but my brother is quite good at throwing temper tantrums."
"Do you know who they're descended from?" asked Gwen.
"Of course," Klaus chuckled, sipping some of his wine.
"It's you, isn't it?" Gwen asked, but it was more of a statement as she rolled her eyes at how amused he was by how wide he was grinning. She found it to be quite unlucky for the Salvatore brothers, considering that the Original they wanted to kill most was their progenitor.
"I would have loved to see the look on their faces, but I can't have them figuring it out," said Klaus.
Gwen nodded. "They'll just go after one of your other siblings to get to you." When he stayed quiet, the halfling continued with a small smile. "I know you, probably better than anyone else. You won't admit it, but Finn's death hurt you, so you're doing whatever you can to protect what family you have left."
Clearing his throat, Klaus looked away from Gwen and refilled his glass with more wine. "Well, I do owe them after the many times I daggered them."
"You're so stubborn," Gwen said with a shake of her head and a small smile on her lips. He wouldn't admit she was right, but he wasn't going to deny it either, not to Gwen. "So," she began, nervous to ask her question, "what's the plan after getting the stake?"
"Well, I was going to talk to you about that," Klaus said without meeting Gwen's eyes, glad that the waiter had come with their food to give a brief distraction. He had ordered a garlic and basil chicken breast with capellini for himself, while Gwen had ordered a pasta carbonara. "What do you think about going back to Chicago with Juniper?"
A frown slowly grew on Gwen's face as she stopped from taking a bite of her food. "What?" When he failed to elaborate, she asked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that with word being spread of the return of the Originals, things might get a bit hectic," Klaus tried to explain, but the look on her face told him she was not happy with his suggestion. "I just want you to be safe. Don't think I feel any joy in this."
Gwen scoffed. "I beg to differ." She dropped her fork as she scowled at Klaus. "You can't be serious."
"I am, Lyn," Klaus sighed, growing a bit frustrated.
"Don't call me that." Gwen shook her head. "Don't you dare think I'm going to let you push me back into that cage."
"Don't exaggerate," Klaus huffed.
"It is!" Gwen hissed, fighting to keep her voice down to not draw attention. "Wherever you send me, it'll be under your terms. I won't have any real freedom and will just live in my little dollhouse that only you get to manipulate. Why can't I stay with you?" she asked. "Why can't I just travel with you?"
"Because I can't have you following me down the road I plan to take," Klaus countered. "Now that Mikael is gone and Esther will soon join him, I aim to retake all that I had to leave behind when I went into hiding." He took a deep breath to calm himself. He questioned how Gwen could not understand that all he was doing was for her own good. "You know little of the world I belong to but understand that I have many enemies who would love nothing more to get their hands on whatever they can to use against me, even at the expense of their own lives."
"But I can learn to protect myself. If I can control my magic, I won't be in danger," Gwen tried to reason with him. "And even if there are problems and people want to harm us, we can handle it together. We've been doing fine so far."
"And look where it's gotten you." Klaus gestured to her side. "Mikael used you against me and dared to scar you." The memory was unpleasant, and he had to actively push it away to keep the fear from shrouding his heart. "You've been kidnapped quite too many times for my liking, and you were almost made to be a sacrifice in a ritual of a crazed witch. It's ridiculous the number of times this has happened." He chuckled mirthlessly. "And don't think I don't know about those filthy vampires coming back from the dead to quite literally haunt you during the time the veil had been lifted." When Gwen's eyes widened, he continued. "You should be aware that Rebekah isn't the best keeper of secrets. One slip of the tongue and she sings like a canary."
"It's not fair," Gwen whispered as she stared down at her plate, finding she was no longer hungry.
Gwen felt her eyes fill with water out of frustration, which upset her even more. She hated feeling like she wanted to cry and hated how weak and vulnerable she felt by showing so much emotion. Her blood was burning with anger and despair. Her mind was all over the place, trying and failing to convince her that she was only dreaming. She wished that he would be willing to hear her and not just shut her away from everything. She wanted to be able to see the world with his blessing, but it seemed that she had been too hopeful. She blamed herself for being naïve enough to think that he would be supportive and willing to listen to her. She was a fool for thinking that Klaus would understand her, but she often forgot who he was. He wasn't the type of person who could be without control, and he certainly wasn't the type to be understanding if it didn't align with his will.
Gwen gulped as she looked up at Klaus, taking a deep breath to keep her tears from falling. "Nik, please."
"I'm sorry to say that I won't change my mind," Klaus said as he began to eat, looking away from her gaze before it pierced his heart.
It was a hard decision to come to, but Klaus found there was no other way. Unlike his siblings, Gwen didn't possess a durable body or an extended lifespan. She barely had any control over her magic, let alone understand it. If she had been a mere human, he would have been able to throw caution to the wind, given that he would only have to worry about her being used against him, but she had faerie blood running through her veins, which meant that it didn't matter if she was his weakness. Others would only care about what she was and seek her because of that and nothing else. He could live with her despising him to the very core, so long as she lived a good life. There were no words to explain how it felt to even think about her death. If isolating her from the world meant that she would live a long life, then he would bear her hatred.
"You might not understand my reasons, but I only do this to protect you," Klaus tried to explain as he dropped his fork when he noticed the solemn look that adorned Gwen's face. "I promise to give you more breathing room. Granted, it will have to be under watch, but I will try to do better so that you'll be more comfortable."
Unable to hear another word that came out of his mouth, Gwen stood up and grabbed her bag before throwing the strap over her shoulder. "I'm not hungry anymore," she mumbled, unable to look at Klaus in the eye anymore.
Klaus exhaled heavily and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Away from you," she answered. "I can't stand to be around you right now."
"Lyn," Klaus began, but Gwen interrupted him before he could continue.
"I need to breathe, so I am taking a much-needed walk to calm down," Gwen said, not wanting to hear any more of his excuses. Before walking away, she glanced at Klaus. "I sometimes wonder why you even bothered to save my life. I'm not even allowed to live it."
Without another word, Gwen exited the restaurant and left behind a frustrated Original hybrid. She hated to admit that he was right, that maybe the world only had pain and misery to offer her, but she was willing to take that risk. She imagined that the only way people ventured out into the world on their own was by taking a risk, fully aware that safety and comfort weren't guaranteed. She imagined all of that was part of living, and she was more than willing to experience it all.
Gwen had been walking for a while, reaching a bench in a park. As she sat on the bench, the halfling took her phone out of her bag and fiddled with it on her lap as she watched the people at the park. There were people having picnics, others were jogging, and some were walking around by themselves or with others. With how nice the weather was, she wasn't surprised to find so many people enjoying the day outside.
Taking a deep breath, Gwen looked down at her phone and searched through her contacts until she found the name she had been looking for. Maybe she would live to regret it or not, but she made her choice. So, the young hybrid called the contact's number.
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Ever since she was a child, Rebekah had loved her parents. Granted, she stopped loving her father at some point. She imagined that not many children could say that they stopped loving a parent, but Mikael had destroyed her family. He was the source of her family's dysfunction and issues, but her mother was also just as guilty. Still, Esther had remained her comfort as a child and as a young adult. While she failed to understand Mikale, she understood her mother to an extent. Because she still felt connected to the woman who gave her life, it hurt to come to terms with the fact that her own mother wanted to kill her.
Even now as she stood in the presence of the very person who wanted to kill her and her siblings, Rebekah found herself unable to harm her mother. This frustrated her. If it had been any of her brothers, they would have snapped Esther's neck without a second thought. Regardless of her mother's intentions, she wanted to try to understand the matriarch of her family or to somehow change her mind. Even when they couldn't stand one another, Rebekah always enjoyed the moments when her family was together.
"How are you dying?" Rebekah asked her mother as they both stood in the living room. They had been there for quite a while after the Original vampire arrived home. "I thought Ayana preserved your body with a spell."
"She did," Esther answered as she slowly approached her daughter, still being cautious if Rebekah would change her mind about letting her live. She just needed the right moment to make her move. It pained her to use her daughter to fulfill her mission, but there was no other way. "I'm drawing my power from the Bennett witch line. When Abby died the connection was severed," she explained. "So, my body has weakened."
Rebekah scoffed as she scowled at Esther. "Well, if you've come to spend your last moments with your loving daughter, prepare to be disappointed. You should have spent less time plotting my death."
"Is that what you think I've been doing on the Other Side?" Esther asked rhetorically as she now stood in front of her only daughter. "I've been looking over you for a thousand years of joy and heartbreak. Your fights with Klaus, the nights you cried yourself to sleep calling out my name." The pain that she had experienced when she saw each of her children suffer throughout the years still pained her, and it only reminded her how she had failed as a mother by cursing them with everlasting life. "Not a day has gone by that I wasn't right there with you."
"And yet you still tried to kill me," Rebekah argued, steeling herself.
"Because it shouldn't have been a thousand years, Rebekah," she said, hoping that her daughter could understand. "No one should live that long."
"But I haven't lived at all," Rebekah countered with a watery smile. "None of us ever had a chance to live, not as long as we were under the same roof with you and Mikael. Each of your children lived fighting to survive another day, fearing that the next one would never come. You and Mikael instilled that fear in us."
"I'm sorry, Rebekah," Esther said through a gulp. It hurt to know that she had even failed her children before she had turned them into vampires, but she had a duty and many wrongs that needed fixing. "I'm so, so sorry."
Esther reached for Rebekah's hands and sent one last apology through her mind, hoping that her daughter would one day understand and forgive her. She locked eyes with Rebekah and felt her child's body tense up. She saw the realization in Rebekah's eyes, but it was already too late for her daughter to do anything. Esther's body began to shake as the chanting in her mind ended before she dropped to the floor.
Klaus had entered the room and his eyes widened when he found Rebekah kneeling beside their mother's body. "What's going on?" he asked, startling his sister.
"She's dead," was the response from the blonde.
Another set of footsteps approached the room to reveal Gwen, who froze in her tracks when she saw Esther's body on the floor. "What's going on?" she echoed Klaus' earlier question.
"Apparently, she's dead," Klaus responded without looking at Gwen as he kept his gaze on his mother's body, thinking that it would spring up to life at any moment. "What was she doing here?" he asked Rebekah.
The blonde vampire said, "She came to make amends before whatever life she had left was drained. With the death of Bonnie's mother, the spell that preserved her body was broken." She huffed. "I have no idea why she thought coming here was a good idea. She should have known better."
"What do we do?" asked Gwen.
"There is only one place she deserves to be," Klaus said, glad that he still had her coffin stored away. He would have to talk to Juniper about placing a seal to keep his mother's body from making another unexpected and unwanted resurrection. He glanced at Esther's body, feeling more than relieved by the fact that his mother was gone. "Keep an eye on her body," he said as he left the room. "The last thing we need is for her to make an impromptu resurrection."
Gwen waited until Klaus left before she approached Rebekah. "Are you okay, Bekah?" she asked. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her friend had to be feeling. "I mean, regardless of what she tried to do, she was your mother," she said as she stood beside the kneeling Rebekah, both looking down at Esther's body.
"She tried to kill us," the blonde responded.
"Still, that doesn't mean you don't love her," Gwen pointed out as she placed a comforting hand on the Original vampire's shoulder, but she took in a sharp breath when an odd sensation rocked her body. It was quick and fleeting, but she felt like it wasn't Rebekah's face that she saw, but she only shook her head. "Are you sure you're okay, Bex?" she asked once more, worried about the blonde.
Looking up, the blonde Original vampire offered a smile before she stood up. "Everything's fine." She cleared her throat. "I just want to be alone with her for a moment, if you don't mind."
Gwen nodded in understanding. "I'm here if you need to talk."
"You're too sweet," the blonde said with a small smile.
The halfling left the room and headed straight for the kitchen. Still processing what had happened today, Gwen focused on relaxing what remained of the day and hoped that the next would be better. She was tired and still a bit stressed, so a warm cup of chai tea latte was needed. Gwen took her time in the kitchen as she left some oat milk to slowly heat up on the stove, leaving it alone to change out of her clothes to more comfortable ones.
Once she reached her room, the halfling changed into a mini dress that had a brown, allover floral print and cami straps. The dress had Dorset buttons at the chest, a V-shaped neckline, crochet cutout trim, an empire waist, a smocked back panel, and a fit and flare silhouette. She threw on a beige, cable-knit cardigan sweater that featured button-front closures and long balloon sleeves. After gathering her hair in a messy bun and putting on a pair of fluffy slippers, Gwen left her room and went to the kitchen.
The first thing the young hybrid checked was the milk on the stove, finding that it was still not warm enough. She then went about fixing up the cup and the tea bag that she would later need to steep in the milk. Just as she poured the milk into a cup, Klaus entered the kitchen and locked eyes with Gwen.
"Rebekah and I are going to pay Stefan a visit, and see if he has retrieved the last stake," Klaus explained.
Gwen nodded and looked back down at her drink as she began to steep the tea bag. "Okay."
Klaus remained where he was as he continued to stare at Gwen. He wanted to say something else, anything to fill the silence, but he couldn't find the words. Their earlier argument already told him where she stood. They were not going to agree on what needed to happen after they left Mystic Falls. He planned to retake his place in the world, specifically the throne he had left behind to collect dust. He had entertained himself with the residents of the small town for long enough. He no longer needed Elena's blood, considering that soon enough there wouldn't be any dangers left that could threaten his life, so he would make do with the hybrids he had left. Damon was more annoying to mess around with, so he'd torture him for a while before leaving. He had hoped that the old Stefan would emerge once more, but he was aware that the young Salvatore was in control of himself, so there was no more fun squeezing out of that one. As for the rest of the town residents, they were too dull for his taste.
Believing that it was best not to try his luck, Klaus silently left the room. Gwen glanced over her shoulder to look at Klaus' retreating figure before she released a weary sigh.
.
As she walked through the tunnels of the underground caves, her mind took her back to a much simpler time. Memories of years past filled her mind and made her yearn for such times, but there was no way back. The only path she had was the one she needed to carve herself to make sure that her mistakes were corrected, even if it meant doing the horrendous act of possessing her daughter's body.
Esther didn't have many options left, especially after her linking spell had been broken and her precious son had been killed. She had no living allies and her connection to her dead sisters had been severed. It was harder to contact the witches that had passed, which made tapping into their power a lot more complicated. So, when whispers from her sisters had reached her ears of white oak stakes, she gambled it all by returning to Mystic Falls and possessing her daughter. While it was hard pretending to be her daughter, it helped to have watched Rebekah's behavior for a thousand years. It was difficult to maintain control, given how strong her daughter's will was, but she was managing. All she had to do was be careful and bide her time.
Thankfully, a perfect opportunity had presented itself to her in the form of her most lethal creation—the darkness within Alaric Saltzman. She had once thought that he would become an effective vampire hunter all on his own by whispering to his ear all he needed to do and focus on, but that darkness had remained locked away until recently. So, under the pretense of retrieving the final white oak stake by forcing Alaric to get it from the guarded caves, Esther decided to move forward with yet another plan to end the lives of her children. This time, she would make sure to fulfill her duty.
As Alaric entered the space of the cave that prevented vampires from entering, Esther watched him move around the place with a flashlight in hand. "Go get it," she ordered, keeping up the act of still being Rebekah. She needed to make sure that the darkness she had nurtured was still under control and determined to see all vampires die. "You know I can't get in."
Alaric huffed as his body ached from the beating he had received from Stefan. The wounds on his face still stung, but he shrugged the pain off. He still had a mission he needed to complete, even if it killed him. He pointed the flashlight around until he found what he was looking for. He reached into a crevice in the cave's wall and his hand met the smooth surface of the white oak stake that he pulled out. He glanced at the blonde Original vampire before sitting on the coffin that was still there, given that no one had come by since Esther broke free of her casket.
"Well?" Esther inquired.
Alaric exhaled. "Now, why would I give you the one thing that requires everyone to keep me alive?"
"Are we bargaining now?" Esther asked, but she was met with silence and a steely gaze. "Fine." She shrugged, deciding to find out what Alaric's alter ego planned to do. "What's your offer?"
"There's only one stake left, which means only one Original has to die," Alaric explained as he waved the stake. "Help me and I'll make sure it's not you."
"Tenuous, but points for effort," Esther chuckled. "You see, I don't want one Original to die." She looked down at what she supposed was the boundary that no vampire could cross, but she felt no barrier as she stepped further into the cave, which surprised Alaric as he straightened up on his feet. "I want them all to die."
Alaric frowned as he pointed the white oak stake at the Original. "How the hell did you do that?"
"It was easy to fool Niklaus, but I thought you, of all people, would understand," Esther said with a smirk. "After all, my son did use your body at one point."
"You're not Rebekah," Alaric said as his mind slowly processed who it was that stood before him.
"No," Esther said. "My name is Esther, and we have a great deal in common."
End of chapter!
Before the Juniper fans hate me for what happened (*hands up in surrender*), this was necessary to get things straightened out and start moving things along for a more permanent situation (*wink*). Thank you so much for the support and I hope you all enjoyed the reading! I appreciate the reviews and love and hate and anything to make a better experience for you guys!
See you in the next chapter!