The bonds of family

41

When weekend came, Arkyn went to go see Xavier with Alexis. He filled them in on what had happened, and spent the next weekend finding Kol's archives. He brought anything that could have been helpful with him. He was about to head back to New Orleans when Caroline called.
"Hey." He greeted. He heard her sob on the other line.
"She's gone." She said.
"Oh, hey. Hey. Caroline, I'm so sorry."
"I just, I don't know what to do. It's so hard, and- and it's just gonna get worse and I can't handle it."
"I'm about an hour away from Mystic Falls, Caroline. I'll come by."
"You've got your own troubles."
"You're my friend. Let me come and help."
"I don't think you can help."
"Caroline, don't do anything rash. Okay? Promise me you won't do anything reckless right now." He said, getting into his car. "I will be there as soon as I can. Just wait until then. Okay?" She was silent for a while.
"Okay." She eventually breathed out. "I'll meet you at your house."
"I'll see you soon." He said, and began to drive as fast as he could.

"Caroline!" He walked into his house. He headed down to the basement. He knew she used it sometimes. She was sitting on the floor, huddled in the corner. "Caroline, it's me."
"Ark?" She looked up and he nodded. He crouched over beside her.
"Hi."
"I don't want her to be gone. I want her back. It's not fair."
"I know." He soothed.
"And it hurts so much. And I don't want to hurt."
"Losing the people we love is never an easy thing."
"But they come back for you."
"Only Kol did, and even then I had to lose him all over again and trust me it's not fun. Your mom's at peace now, Caroline."
"Is that supposed to help?"
"Maybe, maybe not. But it is better than knowing that she's suffering or that she's alone, isn't it?"
"I can't stay here and have people look at me with those sympathy smiles. Knowing it's just an empty gesture. Eventually it'll stop, because it's not their life that's destroyed. They don't really care."
"Maybe don't stay here? Take a break."
"And go where?"
"Anywhere you want. You can come stay with me for a while, if you want. Just until you think you're ready to come back."
"But what about college?"
"You can take a break. You have quite literally all the time in the world to go to college."
"I can really come stay with you?"
"Yeah. And I'll even make sure you never cross paths with Klaus."
"Okay."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. Someplace where no one knows me. It sounds better than here."
"Alright. You need to tie anything up over here?"
"I just need to talk to Elena. Can I come in a few days?"
"Yeah. That's fine."
"Thank you."
"I am truly sorry for your loss."
"Thank you." She sniffled. "Wait, Kol died? When?"
"He's not dead in the traditional sense. I figured out a spell that can give us time to try to save him, and then I had to dagger him."
"But you hate daggers."
"I didn't have a choice."
"I'm sorry. But hopefully you'll find a way to save him."
"Honestly, I'm not sure I can. Once a hex takes hold of you, it changes your brain chemistry. You can't just undo it." He leaned against the wall like she did, his face drawn as he looked down.
"What about Finn? If he cursed Kol, then maybe he can fix it."
"A hex isn't like a curse. It takes root in your brain. Finn can't undo anything either."
"Why would Finn hex Kol if he couldn't undo it?"
"He feels like Kol betrayed him." Arkyn shook his head. "Don't worry about us. I'm sorry. I'm supposed to be helping you, not depressing you."
"No, it's... helpful. I mean, not that it's not upsetting, but I'd rather focus on you than on me."
"Fair enough."
"Isn't Kol human? How did you dagger him?"
"I came up with a spell. A variation of a linking spell. We share strengths and weaknesses. As an original, a dagger is my weakness, but my immortality keeps me alive. That's transferred to him."
"You came up with it?"
"You can't have spent time with Kol without picking up on some magical knowledge."
"I don't know if you're lucky. To have had someone you cared so much about as you did Kol."
"I wonder the same thing. I don't think I can lose him again. Let him die."
"Maybe I can help you find a way to save him. If you need help looking through texts or something."
"That'd be great." He smiled. "I'm going to make sure you don't have to cross paths with my family, but if you do... can you not mention the Kol situation. I told Rebekah the spell failed and they all think Kol's dead."
"Why?"
"There's something you should know. Nik has a daughter."
"What?"
"Nik has a baby girl."
"Your brother's a vampire."
"Yeah. Some loophole from when he broke the curse. He had a daughter with Hayley."
"Hayley?!" Caroline scoffed. "Her?"
"I'm guessing you two don't get along."
"Not really. She snapped my neck. Klaus is with her?"
"Actually, no. Nik's romantic life is complicated."
"There's someone else?"
"I don't really know."
"It's okay if there is. I can't fault him for moving on. Besides, I like Stefan."
"Clearly I've missed a lot."
"He doesn't like me back. Doesn't care for me in the same way."
"Then he's a total idiot."
"What does Klaus having a daughter have to do with you telling Rebekah that Kol died?"
"Right, the spell I used is... it kind of draws upon my energy to keep Kol alive. And right now, the last thing Nik needs is for me to not be at peak strength. If I'm going to help protect his daughter, he'd rather I'm at full strength. It would really piss him off."
"So you're going to let him think you're at full strength but not actually be at full strength? Isn't that risky?"
"I'm not actually weaker. The spell is drawing on my energy, but as long as I keep a healthy diet of blood, I'll be fine. But Klaus wouldn't be able to understand. He's stubborn, as you well know."
"Yeah."
"Better he doesn't know, otherwise there'll be unnecessary fuss."