4x05 – I hear you knocking

Katerina had never been more scared in her life. And of course, it was of a man. She had many complicated men in her life – suiters who bargained for her hand in marriage, her brothers and father who insisted against the partnerships.

They held a very unique belief that childhood was sacred, and wanted Katerina to experience it for as long as she could. They wanted her to mature into her own person before becoming property of another man. She still had a lot to learn.

But Katerina had always been her own person and now she wanted to get married. She was almost fifteen and everyone she knew was married and having children. She wanted a child more than she wanted anything else.

And now she had one.

She hadn't had sex purely for the sake of having a child. To be honest, at the time she didn't really know what it was. It was the duty of the husband to show his wife on their wedding night, but since she was unmarried, she had never learned. So when the handsome traveller had come to town to do business with her father, she didn't see the harm in letting him push up her dress and lie her down on grass of a secret field.

Well, that's not entirely true. She did suspect that sex was what they were doing, but she didn't stop it. Because it felt too damn good.

Markus.

Only… Markus had left just after without marrying her. And she was left with no monthly courses and a growing belly under her nightgown.

Her mother knew so far, and her sisters. They offered to help hide it, but it was impossible. And her mother was too ashamed to help her. They deemed it Katerina's responsibility to tell her father and so, that night, she did.

Hence the fear.

He was at the fireplace in the parlour room, polishing his sword in preparation for his next hunt.

"Papa," she said, gliding in and waiting for permission to sit. "I have news."

Her father smiled very pleasantly at her, his eyes gleaming. She was the apple of his eye. "Yes, my child?"

She gulped as her eyes heated up. She tried to control the lump in her throat before she spoke, but it was too much for her. "Papa, I'm sorry. I… I didn't know what he was doing, and I tried to stop him, truly. But I'm just a girl and-"

"Katerina," her father said, his face growing dark. "What is your news?"

"When Markus came to visit you-"

"What is your news, girl?!" He demanded, his voice rising to a shout.

Katerina's hand fell to cover her stomach, to protect her child's ears from the scolding. The gesture was all the confirmation her father needed. He aimed his sword at her and she gasped, backing a step away. She knew her father would never kill her. Not her Papa. But it was her child she needed to protect.

"Papa, no please," she begged. "I've never felt more love and peace than I have with this child. How could a deed be bad if it's bought me something this good?"

"You stupid girl!" He exclaimed, his mood quickly changing. He lowered his sword and raised his hand, striking her in the face. She fell back and tried to shield herself, but it was no good. She was just a girl, after all. "You have disgraced this family! Only madness can distort this into good. I should have you bound in a dark room for this!"

He yelled at her for hours and hit her a few more times. The next morning her older brother beat her as well. But that didn't hurt nearly as much as when they took that love and peace away from her.

#

Katherine woke up and gasped, sitting upright and looking around the room. This was Klaus Mikaelson's house. A nightmare in himself. But oddly, after that despicable memory, she couldn't help but feel slightly saved.

But she needed some water.

She left the bedroom, in a bit of a daze from the nightmare and passed a mirror on the way out. Part of her expected to see a pale nightgown and braided hair. Instead she found a borrowed tank top and shorts from Caroline and a silky kimono that she'd left at the Compound five years before.

She felt the same way she did in the Renaissance and craved going home. Not necessarily to Bulgaria, but just… back in time. In in those years, when she'd been so afraid of men she'd still had sex again. With Elijah, in 1492. Only two years after she lost her child. You would have thought she learned. But in a world where she'd been so afraid of men, Elijah was the only place she'd ever felt safe.

She found her way to his bedroom, where the door was open and he was leaning over his balcony to watch the sleeping city, like the guardian of his family, protecting it from the world.

"Good morning," he greeted, turning to face her, sensing her behind him.

"Is it morning already?" She asked, crossing her arms to shield herself from the cold open window. He closed it when he noticed.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

She shrugged, resisting the urge to shake her head. "Bad dream," she dismissed. "It's nothing."

There was a pause as she looked around his old bedroom, thinking about the times they coupled in that bed, danced on that balcony, laughed together. Everything. She reminded herself that, after all this, after five hundred years, she was still safe with him.

"Actually, it isn't," she corrected. "Something's different. Ever since the bayou, I feel different. I broke a mirror." Elijah raised an eyebrow and Katherine explained. "It cracked in the exact shape of the sigil we've seen all over town. We killed witches who followed it, trying to anchor it to our world. Now I think it's anchored to me."

Elijah's eyebrows knitted themselves together. "Talk to Freya," he recommended. "She can help you."

"She's still mad at me for five-year-old drama," she said, shaking her head. "I'll call Vincent. He has a past with this, and we have a truce. He can help me."

"I'll go too," Elijah offered.

"Vincent hates you," Katherine reminded him.

"Well, he'll have to get over that," Elijah stated. "I won't sit around and hope you're not possessed. I'm not letting you out of my sight until you're cured."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Two hours later, they were pacing around the graveyard, waiting for Vincent's arrival. He was nowhere to be found and not answering his phone, despite Katherine's fifth voicemail message: "Vincent, we were supposed to meet an hour ago. I've killed for less. Call me back as soon as you get this." She hung up and growled, slipping her phone into Elijah's coat pocket. The pockets of skinny jeans were annoyingly small, it was too hot to wear a jacket and she'd left her bag at home.

"This is ridiculous, I'm calling Freya," Elijah declared, pulling up his sister's name on his phone. He walked away and Katherine rolled her eyes.

In the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow move from behind graves and strutted over to find out exactly who it was. "Wrong day to be playing games with me," she told them. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

She expected a witch, or Vincent himself to step out and greet her, but instead it was Klaus who walked out from behind a grave to see her.

"Good morning, Katerina," he greeted, his hands behind his back. "Don't look so frightened."

"I'm not scared of you," Katherine claimed.

"Oh but you are," Klaus insisted. "After all this time, you remain terrified." On the cue of the word, his eyes glowed blue and Katherine stepped back.

"It's got you too?" She guessed.

Klaus smirked. "Oh, you're almost on the mark. The spirit I have seen may be the devil, and the devil hath power to assume a pleasing shape. That's Shakespeare. I find it ironic, considering our shared title."

Katherine narrowed her eyes when she realised the truth. "You're not Klaus," she stated. His eyes glowed blue when she spoke. "What is this? Are you trying to scare me? If this is all in my head, can't I just wish your ass away?"

"Wishes will not bring you solace," The Hollow said. "Nor will they undo the truth behind your fear. Klaus wants you dead, always has, always will. Can you wish that away? I don't think so. He killed you on that bridge. What's to say he won't try again? You need to eliminate the threat."

"And what do you get out of me killing Klaus?" Katherine asked.

"I need a sacrifice," The Hollow mused, stepping closer and closer to her. "Either Klaus, or you, two powerful souls fighting to the death. Now doesn't that sound wonderful?"

Katherine yelled and grabbed the spirit by the throat. Her eyes went black and she looked into it's mind to feed off it's soul. But when she did she saw images from a life she knew. Elijah's. She dropped her victim and Elijah coughed for a minute, stumbling against one of the graves and seeming very confused.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Are you okay?"

"What was that?" Elijah asked.

She paused, trying to figure out how to explain it. "It's me gaining energy for psychic magic from your soul," she said. "It's easier to do it straight from the damned in Hell, but it's a useful weapon against those on Earth. I know. Being the devil is weird."

Elijah paused before nodding. "Alright. Let's go find Freya."

#

"Lucien," Freya said into the phone, after hearing that annoying voicemail beep. She didn't know where in the world he was, but she was hoping he was asleep and not ignoring her. "I know this is very… out of the blue. I just woke up from a five-year coma and suddenly my family's in danger again. I was hoping you could come back to town and help out. You kind of owe us for the whole Cade thing. And I, um, I want to see you again. I know that sounds weird since we barely knew each other but… anyway, bye."

She hung up the phone and rolled her eyes at the innocent crush act before turning to Keelin. "He'll be here soon," she informed the wolf.

"Good," Keelin said. "I have a life to get back to."

Freya smirked and nodded. "Okay, but before that: we need to find where Vincent's keeping Marcel and wake him up. Then we need to subdue him and Caroline."

"How do we do that?" Keelin asked.

"I've already done a locator's spell on Marcel," Freya said. "He's in Lafayette, where Elijah, Katerina and Vincent also are. They all should be distracted by their three-way love-hate relationship, so I'll cloak you and Marcel's body as you sneak in and get him. Take him back here, don't remove the stake in his heart until I return, but chain him up. I'm going to join Klaus and Caroline and wait for the perfect moment to snap her neck and bring her back here. Then, when Lucien comes to town, I'll meet him for a coffee and a catch up, take him back to my place, and chain him up with the others."

"How do we subdue them?" Keelin asked. "Aren't they the most powerful beings in the world?"

"Indeed," Freya said. "I've got the Egyptian chains Lucien used to hold Klaus five years ago, as well as buckets of vervain, some of which will be put in the air vent so they breathe it in. From there it's just a really difficult, complicated spell to channel their power and put it into an object that it can't escape from. Bibidy bobody boo, we have three normal vampires again."

"Okay," Keelin agreed. "Let's get to work."

#

Klaus walked down the steps into the courtyard of the compound, calling his daughter's name in a search. He stopped next to an old mirror to watch as his eyes glowed blue. He heard his father's voice in his head, yelling in his ear: "Today you will die at the hands of Katerina, unless you kill your enemy first!"

His head flashed around to find his father, but only saw little Hope coming towards him.

"Dad?" She said. "We're ready to go. Aren't you coming?"

"Not yet sweetie," he decided. "I'll follow." He went upstairs to find Hayley and Caroline, chatting idly as they prepared to leave New Orleans. "Take Hope to the bayou without me," he ordered them, instantly. "I'll follow behind."

"Why?" Caroline asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I have to find Elijah and Katherine," Klaus said. "My daughter almost died. I have to make sure the threat is truly over. Something's wrong. I don't think we're done here, yet."

"I'm coming with you," Caroline declared, setting her bag down. Klaus wanted to argue, sure that this was a bad idea before realising that she wasn't asking for permission, and she always got what she wanted.

They went straight to the clock tower where Freya was waiting for them, her alter ready and set up, and her knife in hand to slit Klaus's palm over a clay bowl.

"Remind me again what happened in the bayou?" Freya asked.

"I fought evil and saved children," Klaus claimed. "I should be given a medal, not a depraved ghost ready to possess me."

"Well, I can fix this fine," Freya told him, gathering up a few different potions. "But have you considered not being the only one? Wasn't Katherine exposed too? And if you're father's been appearing to you, goading you to kill your enemy, maybe Katherine's had similar experiences."

"And she may actually have the means to kill you," Caroline mused.

"I need to purify you both," Freya said.

"Not yet," Klaus requested. "If The Hollow can see into me then I can see into it. Find out what it is, what it wants. This thing came after Hope."

Freya paused, clearly not a fan of this plan. However, she finally relented with a shrug. "You have one hour. Find Katherine, do what you need to do, but bring her back here with you. Get Elijah to help if she's being difficult."

Klaus headed out and Caroline went to follow but Freya held her back.

"I could actually use your help, if you don't mind," she requested. "A lot of stuff to prepare, I could use someone to channel."

Caroline hesitated before nodding. She kissed Klaus goodbye and wished him luck before returning to Freya's alter and holding her hand.

#

Since they were staying in New Orleans for one more day, Hayley decided to take Stefan and Hope and show them one of her favourite places in the world. Just a little way from the bayou lived Mary, Hope's ex step-great-grandmother, and the walk there was lovely. Fields filled with flowers and bright with every colour imaginable.

"I miss it out here," she admitted, reaching behind her to take Stefan's hand as he followed her. "I'm not the only one. Hope likes it out here too."

"We could be very happy out here," Stefan mused. "I could build a house by the lake."

"You wouldn't be able to drive that old red car," Hayley reminded him, "without trekking to where it's parked."

"It's not old," Stefan rejected. "It's classic. Who exactly is it we're going to see?"

Hayley rolled her eyes at his defensiveness over his car. "Mary," she repeated. "My ex-husbands grandmother. She's been a real god-send to me. She's family. Even if our connection is…"

"I'm sorry," Stefan said.

"Don't be," she pleaded. "Jackson was one of the most amazing things that ever happened to me. I didn't see it for what it was at the time and I regret that. But I've gotten past the point of mourning and onto the point of gratefulness that I met him in the first place."

"It's one of the worst parts of being immortal," Stefan told her. "Pain is completely unbearable. But like love, it reminds us that we're still alive. In one way or another."

"But regrets can last forever," she claimed. "Like, for example, I regret not devoting my entire self to Jackson. I regret having underlying feelings for Elijah throughout my marriage that hurt them both. And with a child involved, I should have put more thought into my actions."

"We can't help who we love," Stefan defended.

"Maybe we can," Hayley said. "Like now, I'm completely over Elijah. There's nothing left there. But I know how much it hurt Jackson, and how hurt I would be if I found out he was in love with someone else. Especially if that someone was a friend."

Stefan narrowed his eyes and finally picked up on her hints. "Do you have something you want to ask me?"

"Maybe," Hayley said, giving him an awkward smile. "Stefan, you're like, a hundred-and-fifty-years-old, and in your long life you've had some great loves. Some of which are in our every day lives. Rebekah is Hope's aunt and my friend. Katherine, your first love, is in love with her uncle. Caroline, who you dated only a handful of years ago is probably going to end up being Hope's step-mother. I just need to know that no feelings are going to return for them."

"They aren't," Stefan promised. "And I need you to be able to trust me on that."

Before Hayley could answer, they heard Hope greeting her 'Grandma Mary!' enthusiastically. Mary gave her a big hug and looked over to see Stefan and frowned. She sent Hope inside and beckoned the couple towards her.

"I didn't know you were bringing a vampire," Mary claimed. "They aren't welcome in my house. You're the exception."

Hayley glared at her but Stefan just squeezed her arm. "It's okay," he assured her. "I think we need some space to… think. Anyway." He kissed her forehead before setting off the way they came.

Hayley walked down to Mary's front door. "Seriously?"

"You know how I feel," Mary insisted. "Our kind end up dead when they're around. Yesterday we lost Lara. I wake up to hear there's been some kind of cult massacre in the woods. Let me guess. The Mikaelsons are involved? And who's he? Their cousin?"

"Stefan is not involved," Hayley claimed. "And that's why I'm here. I want to talk about what caused that massacre last night."

#

Freya knocked Caroline out with a rather difficult spell and lay her down in a large pentagram she painted in the floor below her regular alter. Keelin walked in, struggling to carry Marcel's weight as she dragged him into the room.

"Where'd you want him?" She asked.

"Over here," Freya said, directing her to the four o'clock of Caroline's noon. "We just need Lucien. Damn it, we don't have much time before Klaus goes looking for her. Of course, I'd do the locator's for him but I don't really want to face that anger and paranoia. Should I call Lucien again or would that seem needy? Maybe I was overestimating his feelings for me."

"You sound like you like him," Keelin perceived.

"I prefer being the narcissistic asshole in the relationship," Freya denied. "Klaus is going to be here soon with Katherine. They're in trouble and need help. I didn't consider them coming here."

"Go and meet them," Keelin said. "Do the spell for them someplace else. I'll hold down the fort here."

Freya nodded and grabbed her bag before running out of the room.

She searched the city for Klaus for only twenty minutes before finding in at St Anne's church, washing blood from his hands in holy water. He panicked when she got closer to him, begging her to stay back, stay away from him. He was afraid of hurting her.

"I underestimated our foe," he claimed, shaking as he pointed a bloody finger at her. "The Hollow is powerful. It made me see things. And do things." He looked at the holy water and saw something he didn't like before knocking the basin over, breaking it and splashing water everywhere.

"It won't be here much longer," Freya promised. "Katherine and Elijah are on their way now, I'll-"

"Katherine," Klaus spat. "She'll kill me."

"I'd kill her first," Freya promised.

"You can't," Klaus told her. "She's the devil."

Freya sighed before holding up the purifying potion and taking Klaus's hand. "You need to let me purify you," she told him. "The enemy right now is the Hollow. Then Katherine, okay?" She chanted the spell and Klaus let her. It didn't work. "It's buried too deep," she told him. "It wants you and Katherine dead."

"And since there's no way to kill the devil, perhaps I should be running from her?" Klaus suggested. "That would be an oddly satisfying ending."

"Katherine ran from you for five centuries because she was so scared," Freya reminded him. "Don't let her intimidate you now. Bluff if you have to but we can scare her. Besides, what can she actually do?" There was a pause as she thought about this. Katherine could feed on souls…

"I have an idea," she announced.

Just as she said that, Katherine and Elijah walked through the back door of the church. Katherine was watching Klaus like a predator, but Freya could recognise the slightest hint of fear in her eyes.

"I know how you can both walk away from this," Freya announced. "Listen to me. Katherine, you can feed off souls, right? Well feed off this one. The spirit possessing you is just the tiniest sliver of the soul of an angry ghost. Control it. Make it your bitch."

Katherine blinked. "How do I do that? It's inside of me. I barely know how to externally feed on souls."

"Remember how Travellers need a coven to practise magic?" Freya reminded her. "But I taught you how to channel the tiniest sliver of power inside of you. It's the same as that. I'll help you. It will be like old times."

Katherine glared at her, scowling. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"I guess you don't," Freya answered. "But please try."

There was a pause before Katherine nodded. The moved towards each other and held hands. Five years ago they did this all the time. Every day. They channelled each other, worked together, and when Katherine died, it felt as though Freya had lost a big part of her magic.

"Remember the chant?" Freya asked. "Klaus, you have to do this too. I'll make sure she doesn't hurt you, I promise."

He slowly nodded before taking Freya's hand and she started chanting.

The room turned blue around them, much like the glow of their eyes. Black smoke started appearing around them and Katherine started shaking.

"Freya," Elijah warned. He touched Katherine's shoulder and unintentionally she started to channel him. She stopped shaking for a minute before it began again. With the strength of everyone in that room and the power of the devil, it was still the hardest spell the traveller may ever have to do.

Her eyes were wide and staring at Freya, glowing blue. Freya watched them and chanted louder and louder, putting all the power she had into her words. After a minute of work, the little black pupil started to leak until even the whites of her eyes were dark. Klaus started to tremble as well and Freya was practically screaming the words until all of a sudden it stopped.

There was a second of silence before Klaus crumpled to the floor in a heap.

"Niklaus," Elijah called, rushing to his side.

"He's fine," Freya said. "Katherine didn't get his soul, she just devoured the soul corrupting him. He'll sleep it off. It's her I'm worried about."

Katherine had started shaking again. Her eyes were still black and vacant, and Elijah paled when he saw her.

"What's wrong with her?"

"It's too much power," Freya said. "The devil, plus the hollow, no one was meant to carry that much power. Especially not a traveller."

Katherine screamed and the windows of the church shattered. Elijah rushed to her side but kept staring at Freya.

"Do something!" He ordered. "Help her!"

"I can't," Freya said, sighing with relief and a slight grin plastered on her face. "She shouldn't have trusted me, Elijah. You don't separate my family for five years and then trust me. She's dying. And quite frankly, she deserves it."


AN: Yeah, I didn't beta this chapter so it's drifting from it's usual 'bad' and is now 'really bad'

Anyway, if you review, I'll probably update faster. That is, if anyone is still reading this. - Izzy