The Coven: The Red Era

Chapter II

"Let's go to Chicago." repeats Niklaus as soon as we head inside.

Shaking my head with a soft laugh, "Yeah that's not gonna happen. The last time I was in Chicago was the deadliest part of my past. We were known as the Blood King and Queen of Chicago. But we went on benders and we were like Romeo and Juliet meets Bonnie and Clyde. Death was all around us. Humans stood no chance against us. We brought out the worst and the best out in each other. Nik, Chicago is where we walked away from each other forever. I haven't seen him in nearly a century. No thanks to you." I pause and push up from the couch as I look at Klaus. "We can't go without him."

Eager to get this reunion over, Klaus throws his arm around me and says, "Then we must go collect darling brother."

Freya softly says, "He hates you, Nik."

"I can't. He's with..."

Interrupting me with, "Davina. Oh little witch will be delighted to see me. Plus you'll be able to tell him your secret. Or better yet why don't you spill the beans and help them understand what they're gonna die for."

"Dad..." starts Hope as she grabs his hand. "She has to do it her way."

"Look where that got her. My littlest wolf, we've been doing things her way. Now it's time to rip the bandage off and dive head first into the battle."

I toss a look over my shoulder to Freya and then to Hope.

Letting out a sigh, I begin with "Kol and I were in love. It wasn't an ordinary love. Something that just made sense. We had forever. I was pregnant before I became a vampire. That night, I went to Esther and she never once hesitated to help me. I think a part of her did it to get the upper hand from Dahlia. Esther did the transference spell and then did the vampirism spell. For two weeks, I was powerless. A witch without powers. I was like..."

"Kai." utters Bonnie as she starts to see the bigger picture.

"So, she altered the spell. I am the reason for everyone becoming vampires. But half of the people we love and care for, wouldn't be alive if I didn't. I did it for always and forever... for my family. Then Henrik died and she used the spell on all of you. Two weeks prior, my powers returned... then the fire broke out."

"Yes, the fire. The infamous fire that you escaped from." muttered Elijah while refusing to look me in the eyes.

"Nik was the only one that knew I was alive and it stayed that way for awhile. Kol figured it out a few years later. We had a love story that spanned centuries until we walked away in the thirties. Flashforward to when I met Kai and we fell in love with the idea of being in love. I left a week before he killed his siblings."

"You told Nik because he was the most feared of us all?" questioned Elijah as he finally allowed himself to devour me in one look.

Continuing with, "Yes. Alisa told me that Klaus couldn't be trusted, but I did it anyway. I didn't want Kai coming after us. But I realized that this was my original pregnancy with Kol. It was a power move on his part. So, he agreed. If someone finds out about them, it will be a bloodshed. If someone discovered who they were - it would be a war we would not win. We would die. I need your help to find them. If I ever lost them, I'd never be able to turn my humanity back on. I'd be lost forever."

"Madelaine..." whispers Elijah as he meanders over to me and hugs me while I wince in pain.

Remaining in his arms, I continue telling my truth. "I have a contingency. If they are in danger or get hurt, I will feel it. Vice versa. If they die, I die. If I die, they die. All I know is that they are still alive and I need your help to find them."

Elijah pulls me in front of him and realizes what I just said. Waverly and Phoenix take a gulp and realize that they weren't hurting me - they were hurting the Gemini Children.

"Count me in. Always and Forever. Plus they're my cousins after all. Family is power and the people that took them haven't dealt with the infamous tribrid yet. Well, what are we waiting on?"

"You need Kol." states Sully who looked like he had been gutted a million times.

"I know."

A story about a boy who fell in love with a girl. I would have given him the world - but his constant jealousy didn't bode well. Both of us were toxic for each other. Klaus kept him under cloak and dagger until I'd undermine him and sneak Kol off for a romantic binge. Nik wasn't a big fan of my deceit, but I didn't care. Chicago is a whole other ball game. One Niklaus wouldn't understand. People flew from all over to see The Blood King and Queen. They offered themselves in order to please us. And now our story is getting a sequel no one ever saw coming.

Elijah knocks on my door as I'm throwing clothes into a luggage. "Are you busy?"

"Just packing for a trip I don't want to take. What's up, Lijah?"

He plops down and looks me in the eyes. "So, you're a mother?"

"Yeah...I don't want to get Kol involved. I mean he's clearly already involved. There's no stepping around that bump in the world. A hundred years Elijah. Nearly a hundred years since we've parted ways. I remember when he died..."

A chuckle comes from his lips with, "Which time?"

"All of them. Things were good with him for a while. Despite walking away from him ... our bond was still there. It killed me to walk away, but I told him I couldn't do it anymore. And none of you were around, so I cut my ties with him. That night when Jeremy and Elena killed him - my skin started burning. I felt like someone threw me in a volcano full of acid. Screamed until my voice gave out. Lijah, it felt like I was dying from the inside out. He's the reason behind Operation Otherside, because I can't live in a world without him."

"You still love him."

"Elijah..."

"Why are you afraid to see him again?"

Because if anyone knew about that night, this would be a different story we'd be telling. A hundred years doesn't seem like a longtime to vampires, but for me ... it's a lifetime. One that we didn't share together. We could have had it all. Been that family we always wanted. But being vampires ruined that. I took the one thing he loved as much as he loved me away. His magic. Him being a witch. I do not deserve him on his good days. And I'm about to drop the biggest bomb on him.

"How do you persuade a reformed maniac? How do you convince the Prince of Darkness to play the game once more? To return to the place where we ended everything? Where's the instruction manual on that?"

He wraps his arm around me and holds me. No one said anything. "If you have to convince him..." begins Elijah but stops before saying something he wouldn't be able to take back.

"I'm sorry I never told you. I didn't want you to look at me like I was a monster. I know you loved me."

He tilts my chin up and says, "Always and forever. But I never had your heart. Not the way it sparked for Kol." My eyelids dragged their covers over my eyes as my mind drifted away. He's not wrong. The love I had for Kol could never compare to any of them. I have to stop toying with Sullivan. He deserves to be with someone who is all in. If I only get to be a mother and a coven leader in this lifetime... I'll be okay.

"Wake me up when we get to Chicago." I muttered as he scooped me up and strapped me in the car. Niklaus joking in the background, we could dagger her for a bit. Might get a good night's rest. And the majority of the coven headed out to meet up with yet another Mikaelson leaving Greensboro, North Carolina in the rearview.