"You can fight it, Stefan! Bill Forbes could, you will manage too. For me." Elena was clinging onto her boyfriend who tried to push her away.
"What is your name, love?"
"Dana," the girl stuttered.
"Mhm. And yours?"
"Chad." The highschool boy tried to sound brave.
"Well, than, Dana, Chad, would you be so kind to each lift your left foot? Keep it there untill I say you don't have to anymore. And if you can't, Dana you'll kill Chad and he you."
Poor kids stood no chance. Few minutes past untill Dana's muscles betrayed her and the lovely couple died, carried away by each other's heavy conscious. All the while, Klaus looked directly at Stefan, daring him to put an end to his cruel game. If the hybrid had no need for Elena's beating heart in her chest, he would have found a way to involve her as well. But the latest doppleganger was so fragile, much more than any of her ancestors, he feared he'd break her. And then, no more hybrids could be made.
He still had that girl from the locker room, though. She seemed closer to them. Perhaps she'd weight more to Stefan's emotional pain caused by the death Klaus brought upon him. So, he cast a glance towards her. She hadn't move from her spot near the gym's entrance since they got there. She looked younger than the doppleganger and her friends. She wasn't mortified as Dana and Chad has been and she hide what she feels well enough. But Klaus had ten centuried to practice reading people'd masks. And he could see how troubled she really was.
She.He grew tired of not having a name to call her. If he's about to torture her in front of her friends to get Stefan to do what he's supposed to, might as well adress her something else than 'girl'. But as he approached the girl, he was surprised to see a defying shimmer in her eyes.
The moment she followed him, Celia knew he'll use her somehow. Not knowing for what, or when, she decided to bring herself together and prepare to face anything. After what happened to the other two compelled people, her confidence was shaken up a little. But she clenched her jaws, tighten her fists, breath deeply and raise her chin to welcome her faith.
Of course, Celia couldn't be compelled. A vampire can only compell humans, no other supernatural creature. And even if the originals were more powerful and played by different rules, they still couldn't compell a witch. She was – supposedly – safe, for she wouldn't walk to her slaughter like a meek lamb. All the siphoner had to do was to find a way to get out of that awfull situation without letting anyone know about her powers.
"You're one smart snowball, Cece." She heared Keith's voice in her head, cheering her up from distance. "You've got this!"
"What about you, love? What is your name?"
"Celia."
"Celia. Such a fascinating name. Could you come closer? I don't bite." He smirked at her.
The bruenette siphoner barely restrain her eye roll, but moved closer to the evil man. She did so smoothly, ordering her feet to take step after step willingly towards what could easily be her end.
"Leave her out of it, Klaus." Stefan chimmed in. Caroline lost her father, her humanity, her life last year. She cannot lose her sister as well. Not if Stefan can help it.
"Seems I hit a soft chord, haven't I?" Klaus smirked. "So, then, what are you willing to do to stop me?"
"I will do whatever you want. Just let them go." The young vampire gestured towards Elena and Celia.
To say she was surprised would be an understatement. Of course, Stefan would do anything for Elena, he loves her to no end. But for her? Why would he care about Celia? Sure, they are friends – sort of – but she is nothing more than Caroline's little sister.
"Very well. You're free to go, Celia. Leave." And she had to. For not obeying meant letting all of them know she is a witch. One with no control over her powers, who can't even use them when she wants and whose weak magic could only endanger people rather than help them up like Bonnie's.
Celia watched from behind the gym's cracked doors how Klaus compelled Stefan to drink from Elena. Knowing his past with human blood both lovebirds were worried. Celia too. Even with his humanity off, he still cared about her. It was cute, in a way. A love more powerful than death, instinct and compullsion. But cute couldn't help the happy couple for too long.
"I can't fight it, Elena! Go!" Stefan begged. All the while Klaus stood on a bench next to the bodies of Chad and Dana, watching amused the scene in front of him as he was waiting for Bonnie to finish her spell and get him his first hybrid.
After a while, when Matt has been safely delivered home, Caroline and Celia joined the rest of the gang at the Salvatore House.
"What do you mean he went off with Klaus?" Damon asked for the milionth time. Caroline sighed. "Seriosuly? I told you already! Klaus compelled him to drink from Elena, then Bonnie got Tyler fully hybrid so Klaus took them both and got away. I thought this was a better place to drop by than any of our houses, so here we are, Damon. Any more questions?"
"Only around a duzen, blondie."
"Ugh!"
"Shut up, Damon!" Bonnie added. She sat on the couch, leggs crossed, craddling Elena's head in her lap. The doppleganger fall asleep soon after Stefan left, too tired to even try to stay awake. Caroline tried to feed her some of her blood, but she insisted she's not injured so there is no need for that. However, a good sleep was more than needed.
As for the Bennet witch, she helped herself with a bottle of sctotch as soon as she entered the house, much to Damon's dislike.
"Look who's talking. What? Got too attached to those originals you fraternized with?"
"Excuse me?"
"Shut up, Damon. Give her a break, there was nothing else she could do." Caroline snapped at the older vampire.
"No, no, Care, let him continue. I would love to hear all about how he would have done better."
That is all Celia could take. She knew Bonnie must feel terribly guilty and she thought she should stay and defend her. But her own emitions got in her way. Also, she had Caroline as a backup. And arguing with the most annoying vampire whom she hated with her whole heart should ease her mind over Tyler. At least for the time being.
Therefore, Celia snuck out and took a walk in the woods. Bad move since she had on only her t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Hugging herself, the siphoner remembered her jacket hanging on the back of a class chair. At least the cold froze her thoughts as well. It ate her alive going over all the things she could have – should have – done different, but didn't pass through her mind at the time in need.
"Ugh!" Celia suddenly huffed. "Stupid magic, stupid supernatural world, stupid...!" The chain of irritating stuff came to a halt when her red-from-cold fingers circled her wrist and didn't find the bracelet to toy with.
"Wha...? No!" Panic rose within her. This wasn't supposed to happen! Years ago, when her big brother made it, along with three more others – the same as her own – he specifically insisted on not losing them. In fact, better not take them off. Ever. She already broke that rule, but Celia never thought she would be careless enough to actually lose it.
"Alright, Celia, think," the siphoner thought out loud to herself, thankful for the safety the forest offered. But, as it happens when one is under great stress, her mind froze. Unhelpful questions, calcations and theories begin to fly around in her head. Not having the container of her magic on anymore, her coven could easily track her down.
All witches leave behind a trail of magic remains and depending on how many spells they do, they can easily be found. Her magic is strong, like her siblings was too. Like each Hell's Coven wicth magic is. But by hiding it under the bracelet's restrictions, using it fewer times and only if neede, immediately sticking it back under the silver, thin thread's power, she could breath peacefully, knowing they can't track her down.
Where could she posibly have lost it? How much time has passed since she lost it? She only took it down to avoid compullsion, but she put it back on after, right? "Oh, no! No, no, no!" She didn't.
Celia allowed herself a swift moment of respiro, sighing tiredly, before running like crazy.
By the time the town's youngest witch, Mystic Falls' only siphoner, little Celia reached the school her face turned crimson red from effort, eyes wattering and sweat drippling off her long, loose hair, the usual cold air of a new morning made itself felt. The town would quickly come to life with the sunrise. Dawn's characteristic horizontal line of orange gold crept on the grey-blue sky shone on the girl sneakin back into the highschool building.
In a couple of hours the bell would ring, signaling the new beginning of yet another semester. But minutes before that, students and teachers would crowd the hallways, classrooms and bathrooms. Would line up to get a mouth of water before starting the course or would simply arrange their stuff in their lockers, chatting about the summer they had and looking over their schedules while teachers did the same – but in an mature, adult manner – in their offices, desks or in front of the coffe machine in the teacher's room.
Celia had enough time to pick up an old, meaningful, special object that keeps her safe for half a decade already, she thought. But she should have known things never go as planned. She couldn't find it anywhere she looked. And the girl had the surprising patience that only comes when something of great importance requires it to look everywhere. Even those places she didn't even walked in that evening couldn't escape her sherlokian eye.
Then, a very bad thought bloomed mischievously in her mind: what if she hadn't lost it in the school? Maybe it fell off her wrist while running to the Salvatore house and she didn't notice. With all that happened that night, all the worries for Caroline – her sister just went through hell with Tyler's death and its uncertainty – and her guilt strike.
She briefly glanced at the clock hanging on one of the walls, smiling at her evily like only school clocks can. If she goes out and about to find her bracelet, which is the equivalent of finding the needle in the hay even in a small town such as this one, Celia would miss the first, second and most probably third period as well. If lucky. And on the first day too! She groaned. She didn't have a choice.
Her coven has been following her and her siblings, trying to catch them after running away from their mother's trial. Trying to 'make justice' and punish all the ones responsable for that crime. And all of them helped their mother hide it from their father. They were all culprits, parteners in crime. What is worse, Celia closed her eyes, a small tear trembling in the corner of her left eye was soon taken by the wind as the girl ran on the almost empty streets of the quite early hour, what is worse is I am the only one that escaped in the end. I, the bitter voice in her mind spitted in disgust, the most guilty one out of them.So, naturally, Celia doubted they would stop chasing her. Not now, not ever. She needed to find that bracelet. A.S.A.P! The more minutes that pass, the heavier danger felt on her shoulders, rasing hair from her arm, tickling the back of her neck, tripping her over little nothings on the sidewalk.
A spell could help her. But it would help them too. Besides, where would she take the required magic from? She shook her head, dismissing the idea. What else could Celia do? Her phone kept ringing with notifications of texts from Caroline. The siphoner muted it. The sun could now be admired in all its splendour above the edge of the horizont. "Where is it!?"
A few dogs barked at her, heads turned towards her, startled, but no one said a thing. They kept doing whatever they were doing before, paying her no attention after that outburst. The joy of a small town! People know each other and don't comment on anything. Gossip is not a secret, is common property and everyone goes on with tbeir days under the impression of simplicity. Sometimes Celia envied them.
Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. Lost somewhere in her mind palace – more like a mind garden in her case – the siphoner witch realized where she landed. The forest. Again. But this time near the bridge. From where a tall man smirked at her with his thin, hypnotizing lips, smart, soft and demanding at the same time blue eyes and dirty yellow hair.
Klaus.
"No, no. Come." He said, lacing every word in that ancient, perfect accent of his, holding Celia back when she attempted to turn and ran. Well, walk fast – she was tired.
Knowing he spotted her made the witch rethink her desperate gesture. Possibly the guilt pushed her too: if she did nothing to stand up for her friends earlier, she ought to do so now. But for what? What could he want from her?
As if reading her thoughts, or simply guessing properly what the frown she was wearing meant, Klaus spoke again. "It is not just about what I want from you. It is also about what I can do for you. But come closer. I won't bite... this time."
They were alone, a powerless witch, a young siphoner that lacked practice against the oldest vampire in the world. One of them, to be fair. And to be more exact, making matters even worse, a hybrid. A vampire and a werewolf. One that just murdered her sister's boyfriend to test a theory, that killed two teens out of boredom and turned a good, pretty young vampire like Stefan into his reaper, monstrous self for fun. All in one night.
She closed the gap between them, keeping still a what could be considered a safe distance under normal circumstances. Celia would laugh later about her cautions. If he wanted to kill her, she wouldn't have had a chance in a million to survive. Once she realised that, she raised her chin and asked, boldly:
"What do you want?"
"Nt, nt, nt. I thought I already told you, Celia. I want to do something for you. Later, of course, you can pay me back. If need shall come."
The implications of what he was saying made the girl think that need will surely come. He will make it so that it happens that way.
"Well, too bad, 'cause I need nothing from you." She put on a brave façade. She felt proud of it, untill his eyes made her flinch and drop the well thought, well executed but still improvised act. There always seemed to be a battle in his eyes, Celia noticed. Sometimes thougtful, filled with tender care – those were the times Klaus felt no one was watching him. Eyes of an artist, the witch contemplated. Other times, most of the time, his eyes were piercing cold. Deadly. Scary. Icy. And these were the ones he showed to outsiders. Cruel and unmoving, he gave her a silent warning before returning in calmer moods.
He smiled. "I beg to differ," and as he said it, he brought his hand in front of him. Slender, agile fingers fished something out of his pocked and held it out for display. Her bracelet.
Celia gasped. "My," she stopped to breath and started again, chasing the course of her speech. "Where did you get it? How...?"
"Where and how, such irrelevant question, no? Would it make a difference if you knew the answers to them?" Klaus took Celia's silence as a sign to continue. "It only matters that I have it. And you want it back, I assume?"
He made his last statement sound like a question, his head tilted to the side – only a tad bit downward – eyebrows rised and eyes searching her knowingly. The smirk never leaved his lips.
"Yes." Celia had to admitt. Under any other circumstances she would have shrugged, pretend not to care and converse nonchalantly. But time pressed her, a weight on her chest stealing the much needed oxygen away and farther away with each passing second.
"Good, then. Glad we came to a common ground so quickly." The original smiled charmingly at the witch. If she imagined a brown gaze, instead of Klaus' blue one, if she imagined a kinder intention behind that smile, Celia could see the family resemblance between the two male original vampires she met. If she tried a little, the siphoner could even see the tortured soul Elijah told her of, the boy traumitized by his father. And for a second she felt bad for him. She forgot the previous night, she forgot their first unofficial encounter from the night he broke his curse. A strong urge to hug him rushed through the compassionate girl.
Klaus found himself unable to avert his gaze from the creature in front of him. Creature, yes. He was sure now the young student he couldn't bring himself to kill mere hours ago is a supernatural being. And for some unknown reason the information cheered him. He couldn't have accidently hurt her in that school because she was never under his control. The hybrid realised he respected and admired Celia. She was able to fool him and he wouldn't be none the wiser now if his witch didn't warn him about the bracelet.
Rebekah, actually, found it. His sister liked it and wanted to keep the thin silver thread. It's not her usual pick, he thought then. Simple and unnoticeable if not purposely highlighted by the means of clothes or other accesories, it just was not Rebekah's first choice. But the youngest original, an only girl, surrounded forever by her brothers, insisted. She felt drown to it. Like a spell pulled her towards the small accesory.
He allowed it, only to learn later that the piece of jewerly was spelled. Its magic called for power to limit and keep under lock and key. Rebekah threw it away in disdain almost immediately, but Klaus' curiosity itched him to learn more. Unfortunately none of his witches could tell him too much, only that the witch in question must be hiding and desperately looking for it. And that the magic it held was stronger than anything they have seen or felt before, but they couldn quite recognize it. Klaus understood whoever owned it, would come in handy sometime.
"I will give this little treasure back to you, don't worry. And I want nothing in return but a piece of truth. Deal?"
"What truth?"
"Ah, you see, I have been told this bracelet hides you from someone. It holds your magic powers back. Who are you running from, little witch? And why?"
When Celia fixed a spot behind him in a silent meditation that took too long for his unpatient tastes, Klaus reached out his arm. The bracelet hanged now above the river, swinging teasingly in his hand.
The siphoner's eyebrows lanced upwards immediatly. She moved her worried gaze from the mocking pout on Klaus' face to the playful swings he forced her bracelet to take.
"Don't do that! Please!"
"It's not up to me, is it?" He looked at her expectadely.
Celia crossed her arms over her chest, grazing her upper lip over her bottom lip. Klaus watched the movement. He saw and met many women in his long life. Smart ones, pretty ones, smart and pretty ones. And the contrary. But he realized the little witch's gestures surprised him. She deffinetely was not the most beautiful girl his eyes landed on. Her skin folded in a subtle, slim layer under her chin, big glasses covered half of her eyebrows, making it hard for him to understand her expressions, her tighs touched under her plumpy abdomen. She lacked an hourglass body shape, or any kind of named shape.The wicth might have had some sort of abs, giving the resistence she had – she must have ran back and forth through the whole town by now – but Klaus was sure nothing too defined. He also noticed faint scars from pimples on her forehead here and there. On her upper arms too. Her devastaded lips from too much chewing on them didn't escape the half vampire, half werewolf man either.
However, everything she did intrigued him. Only some witches can see one's aura, but for some reason Klaus was certain Celia's was the most colourful one to exist. A sharp mind, just a bit humble, rather soft and creative and a good soul for sure. Kind, helpful, fearful, but capable to pretend. No, used to pretend. The need to please others and gain validation contradicts the boldness of her intelligence that placed her above many other, something she proudly was aware of.
"You just want to know...? Why?"
Klaus smiled somehow leniently. It was the second time since they met she hadn't finish her sentence.
He shrugged in response. Celia couldn't help but notice how elegant he was even when doing something so usual. Sophisticated, but not phony or corny.
"I am merely curious."
"It hides me from my coven. I can't go back there, ok?"
"You see, this much I figured. I am afraid it is not enough."
"What do you want me to say?" She yelled. " That my dead brother gave it to me and to my other sisters – dead too? That right now I am so afraid I might be close to being dragged back to my coven by my father and his people?"
Klaus' eyes softened hearing the crack in Celia's voice. He handed the bracelet to her and vanished before the witch cluld ask him again why he wanted to know. Truth be told, he intended to use the information in his advantage. But after hearing the answer, he wasn't so sure what he should do anymore. Maybe, just maybe, she understood a fraction of his own issues with his father. And it scared him.
As for Celia, she wrapped the silver thread back on her wrist with trembling fingers, struggling to fit the lock in the right position. An avalance of thoughts fell over her brain, one she couldn't make anything out of and for the first time she didn't consulted with Keith and the NY gang and kept the run in with Klaus a secret from everyone, including her sister.