While watching Dorothy and Joseph quietly talk to Annabelle, Kai picked up Annabelle's ringing phone and accepted the call before he said, "Kai Parker speaking. Annabelle isn't available to talk right now. How can I help you?"
Not long after he said that, he heard a voice reply, "Kai? Where the hell is Annabelle?"
With furrowed eyebrows, Kai asked, "Ramona, what part of 'Annabelle isn't available to talk right now' are you just not understanding in that puny, little vampire brain of yours?"
After letting out a sigh, Rebekah replied, "You do realize that I could easily kill you for talking to me that way, right?"
Kai retorted, "And you do realize that I don't care, right?" When Rebekah didn't respond, he told her, "Besides, if you did, you'd be dealing with some people that would be really upset with you, if you actually did kill me."
After letting out yet another sigh, Rebekah asked him, "Where is Annabelle, Kai? I won't ask you again."
With a raise of his eyebrows, Kai said, "She's busy, so whatever sort of drama or hellish fight you're all in right now is gonna have to wait, because she can't exactly be bothered to help you right now."
With a scoff, Rebekah replied, "And why the hell not?"
With a scoff of his own, Kai told her, "Oh, man, I don't know. Maybe it's because Logan had Ivan put some spell on her five years ago, which had a bit of Logan put into her head and she had to deal with seeing an illusion of Logan for a week and having to deal with that almost made her go much crazier than she normally is. Plus, there's also the fact that it's only now that she's free from being tormented by that freaking piece of crap and has a calm and peaceful mind for once in her life."
After a couple seconds of silence, Rebekah asked him, "What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell is Logan and Ivan?"
With a sigh, Kai said, "And I rest my case." When Rebekah didn't respond, he said, "Like usual, no one in that family of yours, except for Kol, actually seems to notice when something's wrong or off with Annabelle."
Rebekah replied, "What? No, that isn't true. We would have noticed something, if—"
With an eyebrow raised, Kai asked her, "Would you really have noticed something, or would you have just assumed the worst and daggered her, just like you and Elias and Nikolai have done to her over a dozen times over the years?" Just as Rebekah was about to respond, he told her, "I feel as if Annabelle has been traumatized enough by your family, so whatever hellish drama you're dealing with is something you're going to have to deal with yourselves, because I am not dragging her into whatever sort of mess you're all dealing with."
With a sigh, Rebekah started to say to him, "Kai—"
As he pulled the phone away from his ear, he said to her, "Goodbye, Ramona."
Just as Rebekah was about to respond, Kai hung up on her and looked up from the phone to see Annabelle, Dorothy and Joseph staring over at him with furrowed eyebrows.
With his own eyebrows furrowed, Kai replied, "What?"
Annabelle, Dorothy and Joseph shared a look with each other before they slowly looked away from Kai, who was still quite confused as to why they were even looking at him like that.
* * *
1605, A.D.
After eyeing the family that was bound to their chairs and had cloths shoved in their mouths to keep anyone from hearing their screams, William asked Annabelle, "So, this is what you wanted to show me?" When Annabelle didn't respond and silently stared at the family that were seated in front of her, he asked her, "Just how long have you been doing this sort of thing?"
As she went to crouch down in front of a young woman, Annabelle replied, "A lot longer than you have been alive, William."
He asked her, "Why even show this to me? I mean, this is your game and you're the one who's enjoyed going through families and tearing them apart for your own amusement or whatever other reason you have for doing it. So why show me this?"
As she forcefully moved the young woman's head aside, Annabelle told him, "Because it's been over a hundred years since I turned you and you chose to travel with me and my family. I only believed it to be fair that I show you my greatest accomplishment in life ever since my siblings and I were made to be this." When William didn't respond, she turned to him and said, "Unless, of course, you would prefer that I don't share this with you. If that's the case, then you can go on your merry way and I'll do with this lot as I want."
Instead of immediately responding, William remained silent as he grabbed at the folded piece of paper that was shoved deep into his pocket.
And as he thought over the vampire that had approached him and told him what he needed to do, if he was going to be spending his immortal life traveling with the Mikaelsons, William looked over at Annabelle, who had an eyebrow raised as she waited for his response.
While choosing to ignore the words of the vampire that were practically imprinted into his mind, William replied, "Of course not, Annabelle. I would like nothing more than to learn from you."
With a smile on her face, Annabelle started to tell William everything he needed to know about the game she had created nearly five-hundred years ago, while William only hoped that the older vampire that had approached him only days earlier had no ill intentions towards Annabelle.
Because as much as William had hated it, the one now known as the unstable Original had grown on him, and he would hate it if something bad were to happen to her.
* * *
With a grin on his face, Kol said, "You're finally awake."
With a smile on her own face, Annabelle replied, "I am."
He asked her, "How do you feel, sister?"
With a frown now on her face, she said, "I-I don't know. I still feel empty." After letting out a sigh, she said, "I had dealt with my own personal demons from the moment Esther and Mikael had chosen to hurt me when we were six, and those same sort of demons only worsened the moment we were all made into vampires. And for over a thousand years, and now that they're gone, I don't know what to do with myself."
When Kol's eyebrows furrowed as he stared down at his sister, Annabelle told him, "Don't misunderstand me, Kol. I am glad that those constant tormentors of mine are gone, just as they should have been for over a thousand years, but it's different, knowing that they are no longer there. I mean, they had been a part of me for over a thousand years. I honestly believe that it's going to take a while before I fully come to terms with the idea that I have complete and total control over my own actions now, instead of my anger and my demons being the things that control me." After letting out a sigh, she said, "And from what you've told me about what our brothers and our little sister are willing to do in order to have the Hollow taken out of Hope and kept out of her, I can't rely on you or our other siblings to help me come to terms with it and to find who I am as a person."
After letting out a sigh, she said, "Which is why, after the Hollow is split up between the four of you, I am going to leave the country with Joseph, Kai and Dorothy. The three of them, including Dorothy's coven, will do everything they can to help me come to terms of me having complete control of myself and to have me not revert to the person I was nine years ago." After letting out yet another sigh, she told him, "But, brother, I swear to you that the moment I am feeling like the self I should have been as a child before Esther and Mikael had chosen to hurt me all those years ago, I will join you and Davina, if you will have me."
With a smile on his face, Kol replied, "Of course, sister. You know I am never the type to just turn you away. I would gladly welcome you to join us the moment you are feeling like your true self." When Annabelle only smiled to herself in response to his words, he said, "Now, come on. I think it would be only fair that you see us all together one last time before this ritual takes place."
Annabelle only gulped to herself in response before she looped her arm with Kol's and allowed him to lead her out of the building, which resulted in Joseph, Kai, Dorothy and the entire coven of heretics to closely walk behind her.
* * *
After the rather awkward encounter Annabelle had with her own siblings when Kai and Dorothy had told them what Lucien had done to Annabelle just five years ago, while he was still holding her captive and trapped inside of the cage he had kept her inside of, Annabelle cleared her throat and stepped away from them, much to the confusion of her siblings.
For over a thousand years, they had never known her to be awkward, or to even feel that way for that matter, which made them wonder just what Annabelle had to do in order for her to wake up.
Just as they were about to ask why Annabelle seemed so different compared to how she was the last time they saw her, they suddenly stopped when Vincent snapped his fingers and said, "Uh, Kol, if you would, right there. Uh, Rebekah, perfect. Right there."
Not long after Vincent said that, Rebekah turned her attention over to Marcel and asked him, 'What the hell are you doing here? You come to gloat?"
Marcel replied, "No, I came to make sure that this works."
It was then that Vincent said with a sigh, "Elijah, I need you right there at the top. Klaus, right there for me, please." As soon as Klaus stepped into the place he was told to stand in, Vincent said, "And we are ready."
After sharing a look with each other, the five Mikaelsons looked over at Annabelle, who was staring at her siblings with furrowed eyebrows and a frown on her face as she started to twiddle her thumbs together.
After a couple seconds of just staring over at Annabelle, the five of them looked away from them, while Vincent said to them, "I just want to say that what you guys are doing here today is gonna go a long way towards setting things right in this city. The Hollow took everything away from me. It inspired nothing but suffering and torment. It's ruined families, it's gone after little kids." After letting out a sigh, he said, "And yet, here and now, despite all of our differences, and there are many... thank you."
Then Vincent looked over at Freya and said to her, "Freya."
Not long after he said that, Freya quickly made her way over towards Vincent, while Rebekah said, "The savage Mikaelsons heroically defeating a terrible evil. Maybe this will finally earn us our redemption."
Klaus replied, "Do any of us really believe that?"
In turn, Elijah said to him, "Not for a second. It's a wonderful sentiment."
While Klaus only nodded in response, Kol looked back over at Annabelle, who was staring right at him with a frown on her face and a single tear rolling down the side of it.
After forcing a smile on her face, Annabelle nodded at Kol, just as Freya and Vincent linked their hands together before Vincent said as the two of them crouched down, "Let's go." Then Vincent said to Hayley, "Hayley, when I tell you to, I want you to take the manacles off. Hold onto Hope. Do not let her go. Everybody else, when this spell is over, you got to get away from each other, and you have to stay away from Hope."
Several seconds after he said that, Rebekah said with a sigh, "Always and forever. We had a good run."
In turn, Elijah said to her, "Yeah."
While Vincent started to chant the incantation, Dorothy took a step forward and grabbed Annabelle's hands with her own and did her best to try and make Annabelle less upset than she currently was, while Kol kept his eyes on Annabelle and did nothing to look away from her.
After a couple times of him chanting the same incantation, Vincent said, "Hayley, do it now. Do it now, Hayley."
After Hayley removed the manacles from Hope's wrists, Hope awoke with a gasp and a blue light shot up out of her and high into the sky.
It remained there for several seconds before it quickly got shoved into Kol, Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah.
As soon as the blue light had disappeared and Hope had her eyes closed once more, Rebekah said, "I can hear it... whispering."
It was then that Vincent told them, "Okay, you guys need to go." When no one made a move to leave, he yelled, "Now!"
The first one to leave was Kol, who had finally looked away from Annabelle and quickly sped out of the compound.
The next to leave was Rebekah.
After a couple seconds of Elijah and Hayley just staring at one another, Elijah had also left the compound.
The only one left was Klaus, who was staring at Hope, which got Hayley to look back down at their daughter as Klaus said, "I need to know if she's alright."
With a shake of his head, Vincent replied, "Klaus, I promise you, she is going to be okay if you go."
In response, Klaus took a couple steps back and started to pant to himself, just as Hayley said to Hope, "It's okay, baby. You're okay."
In a whisper, Hope said, "Mom." Then she sat up and looked over at Klaus as she asked him, "Daddy? What's happening?"
Instead of going anywhere near her, Klaus said, "Hope. I love you."
A couple of seconds after he said that, Klaus quickly sped out of the compound, which got Vincent to let out a sigh, while Hope said, "Dad? Dad! Dad!" Then she quickly looked over at Kai and asked him, "Uncle Kai, what's happening? Why did my dad just leave?"
Instead of immediately responding, Kai looked over at Hayley, who only nodded at him, before he sighed and said to her, "Look, Hope, all you need to know is that your dad is doing everything he can to make sure that the Hollow doesn't sink its claws back into you, okay?"
Not long after he said that, she stared past him and over at Annabelle before she asked him, "Why is she crying?" As Kai turned to look over at Annabelle with a sigh, Hope asked him, "Why is Auntie Annie crying?"
After a couple seconds of silence, Dorothy told her, "Because five years ago, a bad man hurt your Auntie Annie and she is only now trying to move past it." After letting out a sigh, she said, "And in order to do so, she needs to stay away from here for a while."
After glancing over at Kai, Dorothy said, "And your Uncle Kai and I have to go with her. We need to help her. But I swear, Hope, the moment she's better, your Uncle Kai and me will come straight back to you. We won't leave you like this forever. I promise."
Just as Hope went to look back at Annabelle once more, she suddenly stopped when she saw that Annabelle was no longer there and neither was Joseph Valentine.
The only ones still there were Kai Parker, Dorothy Sullivan and Dorothy's coven of heretics, all of whom were sympathetic towards the current situation.
* * *
While Kai not only drove the vehicle they were in but also used his magic to carelessly toss the vehicles of innocents to different sides of the road, Dorothy asked, "Annabelle, are you sure you're okay?" When Annabelle didn't respond, Dorothy said, "If you want to stay and be by Kol's side, we can always turn around. All you need to do is say the word, and we'll turn back around."
After sighing to herself, she said, "No, it's fine. This is what needs to be done." When Dorothy's eyebrows only furrowed in response, Annabelle told her, "I was just thinking about the promise Kol and I had made when we were five years old. We-We promised to never abandon one another, no matter how bad things get, but I can't help but wonder if that is exactly what I'm doing now."
With a sigh, Dorothy started to say to her, "Annabelle—"
Annabelle told her, "That promise was made exactly a thousand and thirty-three years ago today. All that time has passed by and the only thing that has made me break the promise I had made to my brother was Lucien and the damn spell he had Van put on me five years ago. That alone just makes me hate him, and also hate myself for it. If it wasn't for me and my blind faith in Lucien all those years ago, then this wouldn't have happened and he wouldn't have had some form of an obsession over me."
It was then that Dorothy grabbed her by her shoulder and said, "Annabelle, none of this is your fault, okay?" When Annabelle didn't respond, Dorothy told her, "Lucien Castle was a selfish asshole that was willing to make you go freaking crazy just to keep you with him at all times. He didn't care about how any of that would affect mentally. All he cared about was having you, the most unstable and feared member of your family by his side at all costs. Knowing him, he would have used you as a weapon to attack and kill whoever pissed him off. The Lucien Castle you knew all those years when he was human was nothing more than a facade, okay? He wanted to use you and because he knew that you were still grieving over the deaths of your husband and your kids, you were the easier target. He knew that if he let himself get close to you and you were to be protective of him that you wouldn't let anyone hurt a single hair on his freaking head. That's it. You were just a means to an end for him, Annabelle."
After letting out a sigh, Annabelle replied, "I wish that were true, Dorothy, but it isn't. I know all too well why Lucien had kept me with him. After all, he was the one who allowed Van to put some spell on me to ensure that Lucien was capable of compelling me to forget anything he didn't want me to remember him talking to me about. And ever since that illusion of him started to torment me, the memories of the things he told me started to come back, little by little. Far more than you know, Lucien Castle had even more of a reason to keep me with him. And from the sound of it, it was something he had planned the moment he awoke as a vampire all those years ago. He saw that I had cried when I thought he was dead, and he saw no reason not to do what he did. And while I spent all that time away after my siblings and I had fled the Court of Marseilles all those years ago, Lucien had seen to it that anyone he could compel or any vampire he saw would keep a close eye on me and report back to him of my doings." After letting out a sigh, she said, "After all, that's what he had William do for him ninety-seven years before Mikael had made me believe that he had killed William."
As she turned to look out the window, Annabelle said, "The Lucien Castle I knew was nothing more than a monster in disguise."
And while Dorothy shared a look with one of the other heretics in the vehicle, Joseph continued to yell at Kai and tried to get the murderous heretic to stop using his magic to throw cars full of innocent people onto different sides of the road.
* * *
5 years ago
After waking up from having her neck snapped yet again, Annabelle didn't bother to make a sound.
She remained silent and kept herself in that same exact position and kept her eyes closed as she heard Van ask, "Are you sure about this? I mean, what good could come out of doing this to Annabelle Mikaelson of all people?"
With a sigh, Lucien replied, "That is the point, Van. There is no good to come out of it. The only thing that will come out of it is the deaths of all those that attempt to cross me, should I still live long enough to have her do my bidding."
Van asked him, "And how the hell do you plan on doing that? I mean, despite all the fights she's had with her family, she's still protective of them. And even if you did kill all of them, what's going to keep her from trying to kill you for what you did?"
As he started to make his way over towards the cage Annabelle was still lying inside of, Lucien said, "It's quite simple, really." After crouching down in front of the cage and reaching out a hand to brush some of her hair aside, he said, "I'm going to need you and your magic to allow me to compel her to forget about everything that's happened over the couple days."
While he started to caress the side of her face with his thumb, Lucien said, "With the use of this compulsion, she will remember nothing bad about me. She won't remember that I nearly killed Freya, that Finn had died as a result of my bite or the fact that I've been keeping her trapped here for days inside of a cage and being forced to listen to my plan of what I want to do to her loved ones. The only thing she will know is that Tristan and Aurora de Martel had seen to it that every single person Annabelle loved, excluding me of course, had died, thus leaving her no choice but to do exactly as I say and stick by my side for all eternity."
Van replied, "Right. And remind me again how this plan of yours isn't insane?"
With a roll of his eyes, Lucien told him, "Because, Van, this is something that I have been planning the moment I woke up after I was killed over a thousand years ago as a mere human. Even though she never wanted to admit it to herself, there was a part of Annabelle that cared about me more than anyone else. Hell, she probably even cared about me more than she ever cared about Kol, which really says something, if you know the relationship she has with her twin brother as well as I do." After sighing to himself, he said, "Besides, Annabelle isn't as good at hiding her feelings for someone as she seems to think she is. The moment she revealed to me while I was human that she had gained feelings for a mortal during the time she and her siblings were staying with the Count de Martel and living in his castle, I had no reason to doubt that it was me she cared for. After all, she told me all too much about how she hated Tristan and wanted nothing more than for him to choke on his own tongue, despite how calm and not all that violent she was at the time. I was the only mortal during the time she'd spent there that she was actually close with."
With an eyebrow raised, Van asked him, "And that's why you want me to do this for you? Because you have some sick obsession with an Original vampire that is out of her damn mind and you don't really take no for an answer, even from someone that seems to have forgotten about the feelings she apparently had for you?"
After turning his head to look over at Van, Lucien said, "The less you use that attitude of yours, Van, the less likely I feel the urge to tear your tongue out of your head. So, if you could get to spelling away and not using that damn attitude with me, I would greatly appreciate it."
The most Van did was raise his eyebrows in response, while Lucien backed at Annabelle and quietly told her, "Just know that I do pity you, Annabelle. If it weren't for your fascination with me, then none of this would be happening. You would be dying with the rest of your family, if it wasn't for the kindness that you had shown me. So in all honesty, the fact that you will be losing every single person that you have ever cared about is entirely your fault." As he tilted his head, he said, "But don't worry. I'll make sure that we find Aurora and Tristan so you could take your misguided rage out on them for what I did before we head out of this city the moment every single person you love is gone. I promise."
And as Lucien continued to stare down at Annabelle, it took every single strength she had not to react in any way to what Lucien had just revealed to her.