Breakfast was chaotic.
There were many mouths to feed, and despite all the adults in the house, no one seemed to be able to figure out the best system to get this done efficiently.
Elijah had tried to wake up early to cook for everyone, but hadn't known where anything in the house was, and had gone to get his brother, who had been peacefully asleep with his arms around Maddy and Hope.
In the time it took for Klaus to get up and go down to show him where everything was, they found Rebekah already getting started on some pancakes, only to find out that the stove needed to be lit manually with a lighter, which explained why none of the pancakes were cooking.
With all the noise they made in surprise, more and more people flooded into the kitchen and dining room, until it grew so chaotic that Maddy had to yell for them all to sit down and make a list of what they wanted to eat so she could delegate responsibilities.
Thus, Elijah was assigned to pour cereal with milk, Rebekah made pancakes, Klaus made waffles, Bonnie made eggs, Kol cooked some sausages, and Elena shuffled around blood bags and other drinks while Maddy passed plates and utensils to everyone.
"Hey, work faster, Cinderella," teased Damon when Maddy forgot to hand him a spoon.
"Why don't you actually help?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"I'm busy being the favorite uncle!" he said, gesturing toward Anita and Hope, who were finding nail polish. "I'm getting a makeover, I can't be disturbed."
"You are hilarious," said Maddy sarcastically. "Enzo, can you—?"
He took the plates. "You focus on the utensils," he said, before making a face at Damon. "I'm next, don't let Stefan go after you."
"Excuse me," said Stefan, who had already had his turn, "If I want a second coat after Damon, I get priority." He lowered his voice, "Worst nail experience of my life, they're taking forever."
Maddy rolled her eyes. "They've never done this before, they're just excited with everyone being here."
"That explains why they're not too good at it," said Damon, seeing that there were many clumps on Stefan's nail. "Either that or they haven't had good customers yet." He winked at Stefan, who just rolled his eyes.
After managing to get everyone fed, a gigantic pile of dishes was left in the sink for the owners of the house. While everyone else got to middle in the living room, Maddy was left with dish duty.
"That was a nightmare," said Klaus, coming to lean against Maddy after he finished cleaning the waffle maker. "I have never made so many waffles in my life."
"Would you have preferred to pass out plates and utensils?" she asked, tilting her head back to let him kiss her before going back to washing the dishes. "I figured you'd prefer that to the other tasks."
"Oh, certainly. Shuffling plates and cooking other items isn't as easy as placing batter in a waffle maker and waiting for it to let me know it is ready. Besides, I had the same two customers." He glanced at where Anita and Hope were now smearing eyeshadow onto Rebekah's face. "I had no idea two little girls could eat so many waffles."
"And they had pancakes, too," said Maddy. "Who knew running a beauty salon could make someone so hungry? Whose makeup is that, anyway?"
"Yours."
"Ah, shit." She then frowned. "Hope said she had a nightmare. Did she tell you what it was about?"
"No. I inquired about it, and she said it was alright, she was not scared anymore. I figured it best to let her sleep."
"She didn't want to tell me this morning when I was brushing her hair. She said that it was something silly. But she hasn't wanted to sleep in our bed since she was four. She must have been really, really scared."
"She's attempting to put on a brave face," mused Klaus. "Perhaps she didn't wish to scare Anita. Or worry the rest of us. She gets that from you."
Maddy scrunched up her nose. "From me? You're the one who bottles up his emotions and pushes people away. Not so much anymore, but you used to."
Klaus shrugged, "But you are the one that puts others before yourself, constantly. Why, the reason we met is because you did not wish for Stefan to be alone, and thus, you stayed with him. However, you hadn't wanted to be in Chicago in the first place."
She smiled as he started to tickle her. "Hey, don't be tickling me if you're not going to help me wash the dishes." She squirmed from his touch, "We should talk to her later, when we have a moment. See if we can pry a bit more. The one time she does a major spell and happens to have an actually chilling nightmare? I'm no witch but that can't be a coincidence."
"Do you believe it harmed her?" he asked curiously. "If it was dangerous, Freya and Kol wouldn't have allowed ehr to help."
"I don't think it hurt her, I think it might have just... awakened more of her senses. She's always had premonitions... and it gets more and more specific when she does magic. When she was a baby, she sensed a car crash was going to happen and stopped Damon's car. And each time after she does a spell, she makes a prediction that ends up being right. She's sensed storms, floods, Theo getting injured, that time that there was a gas leak, even you hadn't sensed it and she just... she knew. Maybe her nightmare showed her something that might happen and she doesn't want to startle us, considering what we explained to her about the family and why we weren't all together. It taught her we can't outrun prophecies and maybe she thinks she's protecting us... or that she can solve things herself."
"Or she could genuinely think it to be something silly," said Klaus. "Our daughter is... abnormally honest. She would not lie to us if it were something serious, would she? The only other explanation would be if she didn't understand the nightmare. And thus has no idea how to convey to us what it is that she is afraid of." He got to his feet. "I will inquire about it again. If she does not wish to tell us, perhaps it would do us well to consult Freya and Kol."
"See what she tells you," said Maddy. "I'm going to call Vincent and get more information about this threat to New Orleans... hopefully he can give me more details so that we can inform the others thoroughly."
Klaus kissed her again. "I will finish up the dishes, you call Vincent."
"Ah, and you waited until I was basically done with them to say that. Scoundrel." She dried her hands, bumping her hip against his before getting her phone and heading upstairs.
"Is this a good time?" she asked Vincent. "I'd like to know more about what you mentioned last night."
A pause, then, "Yeah, I've got time. We're taking a break from our searching. We've got another missing kid on our hands."
"Another? How many does that make?"
"Four total in the last twenty-four hours."
"Shit. I'm assuming they're cloaked?"
"Yeah... even the entire Coven combined can't find 'em. Marcel's got his vampires searching. The police have been notified... even the wolves are keeping their noses and ears to the ground. But we've yet to get a lead. I don't think we'll find anything unless this... thing wants us to."
"Would you be able to tell me more about it? Why the Ouroboros?"
He sighed, "Did I ever tell you about my wife, Eva?"
"Not directly... but Jo explained a bit, saying you asked her to tell us so that we'd be aware."
"Yeah... well, she got put down a while back... she was stealing kids and trying to sacrifice them to gain more power. But she wasn't always like that... She was everything. Smart, beautiful. Just full of love and light. And then something evil got inside of her, and it twisted her up. And it left nothing but darkness. Now, I think that same darkness has come back again. You see, Eva was trying to sacrifice nine children. This darkness has four now. And it may want more."
"But for what purpose? Why and how did you and Eva come across this in the first place?"
"Eight years ago, Marcel was running this city with an iron fist. He had a lot of witches terrified at every single turn. He claims it was to protect Davina, and I get it... in hindsight. But in that time, I had something to protect too. I wanted to take Marcel down. For my wife, for my unborn kid. So... I started looking for forms of magic that he couldn't defend against. I couldn't find anything. And then, one night, I walk into my house and find this notebook sitting on my table. Has the symbol of the Ouroboros on it. It's an instruction manual. Sacrificial Magic, but it's not like anything I've ever seen practiced anywhere. It made me feel invincible."
"Wait, didn't some New Orleans witches perform Sacrificial Magic? Before I came to the city, Klaus told me about some guy named Papa Tunde... something about pythons and vampires."
"See, those were sacrifices to the Ancestors. This is different. This is something older than the Ancestors... and the book never gave it a name."
"So you say the book just appeared there... but couldn't someone have planted it? Maybe someone who knew what you wanted to do, who had faith that you could do what needed to be done to free you all from Marcel?"
He shook his head. "That's the thing... the book's written in my handwriting. And I don't remember writing it."
Maddy gulped. "Damn. That... is really fucking creepy. Is it okay if I mention some of this to Freya, Kol, Bonnie, Liv, and Davina? Maybe one of them has heard of it."
"Well, you could tell them, but I'm not sure they'll have heard much about it." He heaved another sigh, "What happened to Eva... it was my fault. It was because of me. Every day I try to forget that. Every day I lose. It's why I abandoned magic. You see, we started sacrificing small animals... then big ones. Goals and snakes. But it never seemed to be enough. I couldn't sleep, trying to figure out why it wasn't working. Eva saw I was losing my mind and she started trying to help. She told me... and I'll never forget this... 'I imagine a true sacrifice must be something truly loved.' So she took our song bird. Broke its spine. We sacrificed it, and this time... this blue light appeared around our house. That's how we knew it had worked. That's when she became obsessed with sacrificing children... they were truly loved. Eva became committed to that power. And she was willing to go further with it than I was. And that scared me. We both agreed to stop. And then one day... babies started going missing from their beds."
Maddy cast a sad look at the nearest wall, pretending Vincent was standing there. "I'm so sorry... you just wanted a safe place to raise your baby."
"Yeah," he murmured. "I got into it for the sake of my unborn child and it... didn't go as I expected. When I found out that Eva was responsible for taking those kids, I knew that I had to do something about it. But she was too far gone to answer any questions. So I got some healers and we tried to cleanse her. I mean, I used every single drop of power that I had. But she wasn't possessed by any demons. She had become a demon. So I don't know... I don't know what happened to our baby. I don't know if it was the Sacrificial Magic, I don't know if it was my attempts to save her. Doesn't even matter. Either way, it's my fault."
"It's not your fault, Vincent. Evil things like this... they prey on fear, they prey on that desperation to have a better life. It isn't because you were weak or because you were evil on the inside... it knew how to exploit that drive you had to do whatever it took to protect your family. This darkness... that's the one whose fault it is. Don't blame yourself."
"'What lives in me, lives in you,'" he recited. "'Emptiness, bitter hunger clawing at your insides. It's still there, and you'll be the one who gives it breath. You got away because it let you. Because it needs you for later. It's still churning in the soil of this city. It's beating in the hearts of your people. It will be fed. It will be fed, and it will be set free. We will all be set free.' That was the last thing Eva said to me. Jo... used to want to have kids. And I always redirected the conversation. The possibility of dealing with that loss again... it terrifies me. I don't know how she can be so brave in the face of it, when she's lost just as much, if not more. So we made our choice... no kids. But I think... if we can beat this thing... I could consider...changing my mind."
"We're gonna beat this thing, Vincent," whispered Maddy. "We're gonna get rid of it, for good. All I ask from you is that you tell us everything you can... so that we can help you. You know this thing best. And we can't be keeping secrets about what we know at a time like this."
"I'll be honest about everything, alright? Promise. Until then, don't come to New Orleans. If it's absolutely necessary, I'll tell you. But this isn't something you want your little girl exposed to. Anita should stay there, too, until the threat has passed."
"I'll see if the witches here can manage some spells to help with the search. Maybe if they can find a way to track where the Cloaking Spell is centered... they can find where the kids are being kept."
It was times like these that Maddy wished she were a witch. There was so much she couldn't do. So much she had to let others handle. She wished there was a way to know more, so that she could help Hope, so that she could teach her. But until Hope triggered her vampire side, Maddy would have nothing to counsel her on outside of what a mother normally helped her children with. And now, she was a sitting duck, not able to do anything for Vincent and Marcel to help in the hunt.
She spoke to the adults about it after lunch, when they were sitting beneath the trees outside for a picnic. The two little girls were running around the field beside them with Theo, unable to hear anything.
"I think I should go to New Orleans," said Davina. "I'm a French Quarter witch, I should be there to help."
"Vincent and Marcel don't recommend it," said Maddy. "Unless you happen to know exactly what this thing is and how to defeat it, I don't know if it'll do more harm or more good. You could get hurt, Davina."
"I don't think any of us will be much help until we know this darkness's identity," said Kol. "In all my travels I have seen the Ouroboros used many times, but this does not ring any significant bells. I'll speak with Vincent."
"He's unavailable right now," said Jo, who had just been looking at her phone. "He says they have a lead... apparently some of the cops spotted lights at the old Strix mansion, which was boarded up years ago. Lock was busted off the front gate, they think the kids may be in there."
"That makes sense," said Bonnie. "That's a site of tremendous magic. That's where two Originals were unlinked from their sirelings. We channeled a Nexus Vorti there. We should have figured that... if we'd just taken a moment to think of all the significant places. It would have been there or... St. Anne's, maybe... or the site where the Harvest ritual happened."
Jo put her hands together as if she was praying. "I just hope those kids are still alive. If they're not..."
They glanced at Hope and Anita, who were now laying down, as if planning to take a nap. They were both likely quite tired after the exciting night they'd had.
"They'll be fine," said Jenna optimistically. "I'm sure they're getting to them in time..." she looked at Alaric, putting her hand on his. "Think we should say something?"
Everyone looked at them, confused. Alaric smiled. "Yeah, we might as well."
"Oh my god," said Elena, covering her mouth. "Don't tell me..."
Jenna nodded, smiling. "We're both in good places with our jobs... and we decided it was time to try. I never thought I'd see my niece becoming a mom before me, but..." she held Elena's hand, "I've seen you with your little girl and I just knew I could do it, too. So... Ric and I are going to be going through with the pregnancy in Mystic Falls, and after that... we'll likely move somewhere a bit safer. Mystic Falls is wonderful, and so is Whitmore, but it's a bit too close to... danger."
"We're thinking Texas," said Alaric. "Close enough to New Orleans, since Jeremy and Elena will both be living there soon. And we'll always visit, of course."
From there, everyone got up, making a big (and confusing) circle to try and hug them and say congratulations. Keelin already let them know that she could give them her contacts at a nearby college and hospital for Jenna to have options for where to transfer. Maddy caught sight of Jo, looking at her phone with eyes lit up in excitement. She had a feeling Vincent had told her that, potentially, when this was over with, they could try and have kids, too.
"Who's next on the 'have kids' list, huh?" asked Damon. "I need to know how many nephews and nieces I can expect before next Christmas. I need to plan ahead to keep my spot as favorite uncle."
"To be fair," said Enzo, "you're only the 'favorite' because you call yourself that. The girls don't know any better. I bet their real favorite is me."
"Or me," said Stefan. "I was the one who got them those scooters last Christmas."
"So?" said Enzo. "I was the one who sat beside them at Hope's birthday, holding tray after tray of treats from the Easy Bake oven."
"And now the oven doesn't even work," said Stefan pointedly. "Because you were a bit too rough with it."
"How was I supposed to know the handle would snap off so easily?"
"Let's face it, gents," said Rebekah, her arm around Matt, "you're not the favorite uncles... neither of you."
"Oh, come on," said Damon, gesturing to Matt. "Are you insinuating that he is?"
"Hey," said Matt, shaking his head, "I don't think I can be the favorite uncle, they see me the least often. Have you considered the possibility that they don't pick favorites?"
"Good point," mused Cami. "They're both smart, they're sweet, they like to be fair. And if they do have a favorite uncle or aunt, they're likely never gonna tell us, so it doesn't have to be a debate."
Damon snorted. "I need to know, okay, it's important to me."
Meredith massaged his arm. "There will be more kids soon, you can be the favorite uncle to them."
The man then pointed at Alaric. "Dibs on your kid."
Alaric made a face. "Are you calling dibs on being the favorite uncle?"
"No, Ric," Damon said sarcastically, "I'm calling dibs on your firstborn." He looked around at the group, a few of them chuckling uncomfortably. "What, too soon? Dahlia's been gone forever! Aw, don't tell me none of you joke about your trauma. I make jokes about it all the time."
"To be fair, you got off pretty easily when Dahlia came," said Maddy. "Some of us died."
"But you came back to life, thanks to me."
"She beat me up," mused Alaric. "That really hurt. Besides, you can't call dibs on being a kid's favorite uncle, they have to decide that them—"
"MOM!"
Elena went rigid, having heard Anita screaming. They all turned to the field, where Theo was now neighing very loudly. Anita was barely holding Hope up, her body limp and nose bleeding.
Maddy, Klaus, and Elena were the first to get to them. "What's wrong?" Maddy asked frantically as Klaus took Hope in his arms, helping her stand as her mother examined her. "What do you feel?"
"I fell asleep," mumbled Hope weakly. "And I had a dream about a bad man... he was hurting these kids and I think he hurt me, too. I feel dizzy... and my head hurts."
"Here," said Maddy, biting into her wrist and offering it to her. "Drink a bit, it will help." Hope did so, but the bleeding in her nose didn't stop. "Baby, you're not healing... what did you see the man doing in the dream?"
"He turned the kids into zombies," she mumbled. "Or like... puppets... he was controlling them and their eyes were white... I think he was doing a spell on them."
"She's freezing," said Klaus, holding Hope's arm. He quickly removed his jacket, draping it over her. "Sweetheart, are you getting any warmer?"
She shook her head. "Colder... I feel really cold..."
Freya came to kneel beside them, taking Hope's hand. "She's never gotten sick," said Maddy shakily. "Never..."
"This is a magical affliction," Freya confirmed. "It feels... I don't know. It's hard to explain. Almost cold."
"Feels blue," said Hope tiredly. "Shiny blue light."
Maddy's jaw went slack. "Blue light... Vincent mentioned a blue light. Jo—?" She turned to see Jo was already dialing his number.
He answered soon after, "Jo, you have to tell Maddy and Klaus to bring Hope to New Orleans."
"To New Orleans?" asked Jo. "But I thought you said it wasn't safe."
"This darkness... it's trying to hurt her. I can cure her, but it needs to be done here. She's a French Quarter witch, from a special bloodline... meet me at the Compound as soon as you can. Hurry."
They hardly packed anything. Maddy and Klaus took Hope quickly on a private jet, leaving everyone else to either head home or meet them there when they had the chance.
"You're gonna be okay," whispered Maddy, stroking her hair. "Can't this thing fly any faster?"
"We're already pushing it, love," said Klaus, holding Hope's hand tightly. "Any warmer?" She shook her head, and he cursed internally. "We're almost there, love. We'll head to the house on foot. We cannot wait for a car to drive us."
They did exactly that once they touched down. They arrived in the Compound, seeing Vincent was already there, waiting for them.
"Bring her here," he said, gesturing to the couch. Overhead, crows were squawking, and Maddy wished they could just shut up.
They laid Hope down, and Vincent hovered over her, starting to tap his hands together. "Nettoyer timoun sa a... Nettoyer timoun sa a..." he continued to repeat it over and over again until Hope sat up, looking stronger than she was before. "Mom? Dad?"
"Did it work?" asked Klaus as Vincent helped Hope to her feet.
"Yeah," he replied. "That's it. Your little girl's purified." He tapped Hope's shoulder. "You can go to your parents now."
Smiling, she got up, and started heading towards them. She'd just reached Maddy when suddenly, a crow dropped dead beside her. Hope flinched, and Maddy pulled her close, looking around them fearfully as more crows began to fall, forming a nearly perfect circle. As Maddy got to her feet, she realized the imperfections were to create the shape of a snake's head. The Ouroboros was formed around them, with the corpses of crows.
"What the bloody hell is this?" Klaus spat.
"I don't know," said Vincent honestly.
"Mom?" said Hope, stepping away from Maddy. "Can you hear that? Its whispers... saying a name, over and over. 'Kre Nah Han... Kre Nah Han.'"
"What does that mean?" asked Maddy urgently.
"It's a nearly forgotten dialect," said Vincent. "It's Creole. It means 'The Hollow.' The Hollow is coming."