Finn didn't seem suspicious.
Amaris was asking too many questions and she knew it. Sitting on the counter, her phone off to the side where Finn could see it, completely turned off. She kept glancing down at Mikael between telling Finn to dictate what he was doing and why he was doing it. Though it irritated him, he didn't stop. He didn't think she could piece together what he was actually planning.
But she didn't need to know the exact plan to determine that something was about to happen to Klaus and Kol.
She didn't care about Klaus. Really, she didn't. But she would not allow anything to happen to Kol, especially not when he was in a mortal body.
"You know," she said, hoping Finn wouldn't immediately wave his hand to knock her out, "I can understand your bitterness toward them, really, I can, but how does it make it any better if you try to hurt them? How does it make youbetter than them? How does it make you the moral man you claim to be?"
He shot her a warning look. "They've done something to my mother. They deserve everything they're going to get."
"Finn, they're never going to be open to hearing your side of the story unless you stop trying to murder them. They're your siblings. Our siblings."
He held up his hand, and she tensed as if to brace herself, but he didn't cast any spells. "You are quickly approaching your talking limit," he said. "You want to act like a stubborn child, I'll treat you like one."
"Kol is my brother," she said. "My little brother. I laughed at his jokes for a long time. I saw everyone being unfair to him. I don't want you to hurt him. I don't want you to hurt any of them, Finn, please. Let me advocate for you, let me encourage them to see that they were wrong for what they did to you, let me make them apologize—"
"It is too late for an apology!" he snarled.
She got to her feet. "You tried to kill them!" she spat. "I watched you preparing yourself to be a sacrifice! Ending their lives as if they owed them to you! They are monsters but that never gave you the right to decide when they are done living! What if they can be redeemed and you didn't give them a chance to—"
"I will tell you the same thing I told Cami," he replied fiercely. "People don't change. Redemption isn't real. There is right and wrong, good and evil. That's it."
"The world isn't black and white, Finn! I'm not even from this time and I know that. Things are more complicated than that! I got a second chance at life thanks to your mother. I don't know what I did to deserve that. So if there is a second chance for other people, I will show them that! I saw Klaus when he was preparing to be a father— you didn't. He was becoming kinder, more tender. And then he lost his baby girl and it broke him. It broke him into a million pieces and he was already messed up before, so imagine how he feels now! He is cruel and evil and he doesn't like me, and I wouldn't care if he lived or died, but there is some good in him, Finn. He isn't solely evil, he isn't only someone who committed wrongs. There are good deeds mixed into all the bad. There is a chance for him to be a better man, but if you keep poking and poking, he's going to snap and you're going to be the one that gets hurt. I don't want any of you to get hurt! The whole point of me being here is wanting you all to know me and that can't happen if you're dead!"
He just stared at her, his jaw tightening. Her eyes flickered to the manacles, and he caught her. "Don't even think about it," he said. "I'm channeling Mikael's strength— those flimsy things won't be able to hold me anymore."
"Cut the crap with trying to hurt them, please," she said. "Surely there's another way... some way you can make them see reason, see what you're trying to tell them, without..." she gestured at the table in front of them, "all of this crazy stuff."
He let out a dry laugh. "You are so naive. You don't know them, Amaris! No matter how convinced you are that you do, based on watching them for a thousand years. You haven't had to argue with them. Haven't had to talk to them for more than a few seconds at a time. They are going to hurt you, just like they hurt everyone that enters their lives. You don't stand a chance. You will suffer because of them, you will die because of them."
"I don't believe that. Klaus, I know, will hurt me. But the others... I haven't even had a chance to speak to Elijah and Rebekah alone, yet! I can't judge them so harshly! I won't get to know them if you kill them. Please, Finn... please."
Somehow, the puppy eyes seemed to work on him. Because he didn't outright snap his fingers to put her to sleep. "Stop making that face," he demanded, turning away.
She leaned over the table, forcing him to look at her, keeping the same expression. "Oh, you are insufferable," he muttered lowly. "When I asked for a sister, I didn't mean one like you."
"As annoyed as you are with me, you haven't killed me. That has to count for something."
"You're more likable than them," he muttered. "Even if you are a complete brat."
She caught his hand when he made to grab another bunch of herbs. "How about you try to find Freya, instead?" she asked sweetly.
He made a face at her. "What?"
"Find Freya. You said she might still be alive. If you want me to stop bothering you about saving our siblings, then give me a different, better sister that I can rely on."
She wanted to see if Freya was still alive, she really did. But not to use her as a replacement for the others if Finn killed them off. More to distract him. To keep him from doing anything that would hurt Kol.
"Come on," she said, offering her wrist. "You can do the magic test to check that I'm your sister, then we can combine our blood to find Freya. That's how Locator Spells work, right?"
"We could try," he murmured. He took a knife, placing it in her palm, then giving her a bowl. She cut into her palm, letting the blood drip into the bowl until her wound naturally healed. She handed him the knife and bowl back, and he used a different knife to cut into his hand, allowing the blood to mix. He waved a hand over it, murmuring a small spell as he poured the blood onto a different plate. It split into three strange blobs. One much larger than the other two, and one far smaller.
"What does that mean?" she asked him, noticing the two smaller blobs, if combined, would equal the size of the larger one.
"The large cluster represents the blood we share. Mikael's blood. The larger of the two small ones is our connection to Esther. I imagine it's not an even split because a part of you is still tainted with Esther's magic. The smallest is the blood you share with your mother."
He scooped the smallest cluster of blood into a vial, then set it aside for her. He took a bit from the cluster that belonged to Esther, likely to locate her, too. The rest of the blood was left on the plate.
"I will attempt to find my mother, first, now that the blood has been isolated," he said. "You're going to help me."
He grabbed her arm, channeling her as he chanted his next spell. She let out a yelp of pain, biting her lip hard to not show that it hurt as he moved Esther's bit of blood from the vial onto a map. She watched as the small blob remained stationary for a moment, before sliding over to where the Saint Roch Cemetery was marked on the map. Finn let go of her, as if just realizing something.
"I couldn't find her because I didn't sense her magic anymore," he whispered. "But when I used the bit of your blood that is connected to her magic..." he rubbed his chin. "She's probably hidden somewhere in there." He tapped Amaris's shoulder, "You can track her." He went to get a sweater, offering it to her. "She wore this."
"I don't feel too happy about you using me like a bloodhound and a battery," she said with a wry smile, though she sniffed the sweater. "Will you listen to me if I tell you where she is?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
"You know, I would think the oldest brother would be my favorite but you're not really making a good first impression."
He led her out of the cemetery, and to where a car was parked, apparently the one belonging to the person his soul was inhabiting. He motioned for her to get in the passenger's seat, rolling his eyes when she hesitated. "You've seen cars before," he said. "This cannot possibly be a new concept to you."
"Well, I've seen them," she said. "But I've never been in one."
"Climb in. It won't kill you."
She didn't like the feeling of being in a car. She tolerated it, for Finn's sake, as they went to the Saint Roch Cemetery. When they arrived, Amaris sniffed the sweater again, before leading the way to the Delphine tomb, where a wall of bricks had recently been put up. She punched through it, the bricks clattering to the floor, raising dust everywhere.
Finn entered the space behind the wall, and found the person Amaris assumed was currently Esther. She stepped away, so that Esther couldn't see her.
"Mother," he said with a happy smile. "I thought for sure I'd find you dead. I've come to save you."
"I knew you would, my sweet child," she said hoarsely. When she reached out to touch him, dark veins appeared beneath her eyes, which had turned red.
Finn instantly jumped back. "No."
"Finn, please!" she cried. "I fought it for as long as I could. Look at me! I am still your mother! I'm sorry... I was just so hungry..."
"You're a hypocrite," sneered Finn. "You speak of purification, of cleansing the souls of our family, and yet you caved to temptation instead of standing with your principles! It was your morality, Mother, your conviction that hardened me. That's why I stood by you. That's why I fought for you. I would have done anything for you. My mother. She who gave me life."
"Yes," whispered Esther softly, as if assuming that he'd forgiven her.
"But," he said, "I know she would want me to finish what we started."
Amaris was stunned to suddenly hear a thump, followed by Esther screaming. She ducked into the room and saw Finn was carving a symbol on Esther's forehead, causing her to desiccate just like Mikael did.
"Oh, what the fuck," she muttered. "Finn..."
"Don't," he said sharply when Esther slumped into his arms. He picked up the vampire, carrying her back to the car. Amaris simply followed.
The ride back was silent. She could tell Finn was furious. She hardly dared to breathe. When they got back to the Lycée, he went to drop Esther beside Mikael, now channeling the both of them.
"We were a family once," she heard him say to them, as she slowly walked in. "I can remember the love between you, how happy you were that I was your son. And I remember the day that we lost our Freya, and how we never got that happiness back. I remember it all. You should have stopped there. Instead, you had them. The monsters you call children. And for that, you will all pay."
"Finn," said Amaris softly. "You're scaring me."
He shook his head when he saw she was giving him the puppy eyes. "You don't get it, Amaris, and you never will. They will rip you apart the instant you do something they don't like."
"I'm more worried about you hurting me at this point, if I'm being honest," she said. "You're wanting to kill them all... yet you complain about them being monsters for the same reason... and now you're jumping to ideas of murder again... don't be like our father. Please."
He came closer to her, noticing how she tensed. He cupped her face, whispering a spell that made her fall asleep in his hold.
_
She awoke feeling sore. Apparently Finn hadn't moved her from the stone floor in the Lycée.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed. All she knew was that right now, Finn was sitting down, very still as if in a trance. Mikael and Esther weren't on the ground anymore.
She got to her feet, going to get her phone first. When she clicked the power button, it wouldn't turn on. But she found that when she pressed down and held it, the screen started to glow. She peeked at the bowl of blood in front of Finn, seeing that there was a fox tail, a feather, a deer antler, a wolf paw, and a stick of burning sage all combined inside.
"That is nasty," she muttered. Her screen turned on fully, and her face went pale. Six days? She'd been asleep for six days? Oh, she wanted to kill Finn.
But instead, she bolted out of there. Ran and ran as fast as she could, trying to beat the setting sun until she arrived at the Compound. She was surprised she made it without getting lost too many times. And without getting hit by any cars. Why were there so many people in red cloaks?
Her phone was filled with unread messages and unanswered calls. Elijah had called her. Rebekah. Hayley and Marcel had left about a million messages. Even Klaus had written (instead of typing a text) 'WHERE ARE YOU?' then sent it to her.
The Compound was empty. She looked around wildly, hoping to hear someone breathing in another room, but there were no sounds at all.
The first one she thought to call was Marcel. He didn't answer, even after the line rang several times. Then, she tried Hayley. The call went straight to voicemail. Amaris figured she might be in the Bayou, and had no signal.
She heard noise behind her, and whirled around to see Klaus. "Where the hell have you been?" he demanded when he saw her.
"Mikael took Finn and I to the Lafayette Cemetery," she said. "And Finn was— he was planning something evil and I tried to stop him but he found your mother and put me to sleep and it's been six frickin' days and I have no idea what's going on!"
He huffed. "You missed quite a bit," he sneered. "We were trapped in this bloody house, vampires and wolves..."
"Is everyone okay?"
"Marcel and his vampires are missing. The wolves, I imagine, are fine. Make yourself useful and go attempt to find them."
"Say 'please' and I'll do it."
"No."
"Okay," she said with a cheeky smile. "Then I'm going to at least eat first before I do it on my own terms, because I am severely dehydrated."
He got in her way before she could go to the kitchen. "I am having trouble locating Hayley as well."
"Is she still marrying Jackson?"
"Yes."
"Then she's probably in the Bayou preparing. I don't know how much you've heard about the Unification Ritual, but it takes several days to get ready. Fasting, purification, Rite of Divulgement—"
"Rite of Divulgement?" he asked sharply. "The one that requires the smoking of blue calamus root?"
"Ye—"
He sped off, and moments later, Amaris realized why. She cursed loudly, and immediately rushed to the kitchen, grabbing a bit of bread to-go before rushing out onto the streets to find a way to get to the Bayou.
It was too far on foot. She cornered a random woman, offering to carry her groceries in exchange for being driven to the Bayou. Thankfully, she accepted, though she seemed concerned seeing Amaris was tapping her foot anxiously, wishing the car would go faster, but also wishing the nausea would just stop.
"Thank you," she told the woman, taking off running the instant she closed the car door. She didn't know where Hayley was, exactly, but she figured that if she could get to the main Crescent encampment, she could find something that belonged to her and track her with her scent.
Aiden was the only one that she knew there. He was helpful enough to point her to where some of Hayley's things were. She grabbed her jacket, inhaling deeply. She then got hold of an empty backpack, and started to undress.
"What the hell are you doing?" said Aiden, when he entered the cabin and found her in only her underwear.
"I need to turn to find her," she said, balling up her clothes and shoving it into the bottom of the backpack. "Can you like, turn around, or something?"
He stopped facing her, and she slipped out of her underwear, tucking it on the side then placing Hayley's jacket over the backpack once it was zipped up.
She closed her eyes, concentrating. This is an emergency. I need to turn, right now. You need to let me turn.
Her inner wolf was reluctant, but Amaris broke her own finger, kickstarting the transformation.
In a matter of seconds, she was in her wolf form. She picked the backpack and jacket with her teeth and dashed out past Aiden's legs.
She zoomed through the Bayou, trying to follow any scent that reminded her of Hayley. She felt like she ran forever before it started to get stronger, and she found herself approaching a cabin.
She stopped behind a tree, letting go of the backpack. She focused, and turned back into her human form, quickly getting dressed again before running on foot the rest of the way to the cabin.
An older woman was by the entrance, shocked to see Amaris panting heavily, her face dirty.
"Where's Hayley?" she asked breathlessly. "Is she okay? Did Klaus come?"
"You're Amaris, aren't you?" said the woman. "Jackson told me about you. Klaus was here a second ago. But—"
"Grandma Mary!"
She walked out to stand beside Amaris, waving as Jackson walked up. "Where's Hayley?" asked Amaris worriedly. "Klaus found out about the Rite of Divulgement and just flipped out, and—"
"He's talking with her," said Jackson. "S'okay, we'll wait here. Where have you been?"
"My own brother kept me hostage," she said dryly. "I'm starting to think I should have just stayed in the Bayou."
He let out a weak laugh. "Grandma Mary, Amaris. Amaris, this is my grandmother."
"Nice to meet you," she said hastily.
"Come in," said Mary, urging her inside. "Here—" she offered her a rag, "clean your face, it looks like you rolled through dirt to get here."
"Had to shift into my wolf form," she said. "Never would have gotten here otherwise."
Mary looked mildly surprised, but Jackson said, "She can shift at will in emergencies."
Amaris graciously accepted some water and food while they waited for Hayley. It was already dark outside, and she worried with every passing second that she didn't hear Hayley arriving at the door.
"Something is wrong," she said, pacing near the entrance. Mary was sharpening a stake, and Jackson was washing the dishes. "How much can they have to talk about? She should be back by now.
Mary handed Jackson the stake as he dried his hands, approaching Amaris. "For Klaus, in case he comes back."
"Speak the devil's name," came Klaus's voice suddenly in the doorway, "et cetera, et cetera. I wonder if Jackson can come out to play?"
"What did you do with Hayley?" asked Amaris defensively.
"Resting," said Klaus with fake sweetness. "She was exhausted after your day of wedding preparations. Poor thing! No matter. Gives us a chance to chat."
"I want your word," said Jackson, putting the stake in Amaris's hands instead. "This is between me and you."
"Why, of course," said Klaus. "You have my word as a gentleman."
Jackson stepped out onto the porch, looking up at Klaus. "Brave lad," said Klaus admirably, before grabbing Jackson and disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"Son of a—" Amaris swore loudly. "You have got to be kidding me." She turned to Mary. "I'll find him. Stay here."
She thought of all the ways she might torture Klaus as she rushed through the Bayou, able to smell Jackson faintly in the distance. She could only just hear him and Klaus speaking, which let her know she was heading in the right direction.
"Most of my victims start screaming about now," she heard Klaus boasting.
She could smell blood. Jackson's blood.
"I would rather you spare me the tedium of any last words," Klaus was continuing. "But if you are so inclined, now would be the time."
"Go to hell, you bastard!" Jackson snapped.
"Bastard, yes," she heard Klaus taunting. "That is exactly what I am. Made so by your precious mentor, Ansel. I'm curious— did he teach you to regard me with such loathing, or is that bias all of your own?"
"Is that what this is about?" demanded Jackson. "You're jealous that I got to spend time with your daddy?"
"You were his most prized pupil," said Klaus. "The benefactor of all his wisdom." She heard a loud thud. "Look at all the good it's done you." Another thud.
She stopped listening, and just started to sprint, knowing damn well she would be tired when she got there, but she wasn't going to let Klaus hurt Jackson. She was sick of him trying to control everything. Sick of how things were going for her in the first place. Perhaps it would have been better to stay dead.
When she saw Klaus standing over Jackson, who was bloody and bruised, she leapt into action, jumping onto him and punching him in the face.
With ease, he threw her off of him. In seconds, he was on his feet, and kicking her abdomen repeatedly as she tried to crawl away. She wasn't about to scream, either. She was attempting to get to her feet, at least thinking she'd give Jackson a moment to recover so he could run away.
"Not so mighty now that Elijah isn't here to stop me from killing you, hmm?" asked Klaus, yanking her up and pressing her face first against a tree, scraping her face against it.
She kicked her leg back, ducking down and stabbing the stake into his side. In the time it took him to get it out, she was already at Jackson's side, helping him to his feet. But she wasn't fast enough to get them out of there.
He grabbed a fallen branch, hitting her across the face with it. "This is the family you wanted," he sneered. "Still wish to be a part of it?"
"Shut up," she said, seeing stars as she lifted herself back up, not about to back down. "You... keep acting... like I'm going to hurt everyone..." she wheezed, "When are you gonna realize... I am not trying to cause you harm?"
"Kol may be willing to accept your identity, Rebekah may be excited to meet you, and even Elijah perhaps is inclined to hear you out and find out more about you, but I did not, for one second, ask for you. I never wanted you here. And from the looks of it, not even Finn wanted you. Or Mikael, because despite being kidnapped by him, it does not sound like your meeting went very well."
"Yeah, he beat me just like you're doing now," she sneered. "And Finn? Finn put me to sleep to not deal with me. You don't want me? Fine. But I'm not here for you. I don't want you, either."
He used the fallen branch to stab into her abdomen. Right where she already had the scar from when Adriel tried to kill her.
Klaus noticed she stopped fighting the instant she felt that searing pain again, in the same place. She had finally screamed, and she closed her eyes, starting to sob. He stepped back, and she fell to her knees, starting to hyperventilate, not even daring to pull the branch out.
"You are weak," whispered Klaus darkly as she slumped back, blood pouring out of her body.
Jackson dove between them. "STOP!" he yelled. "Don't hurt her— please!" He turned his back to Klaus. "Amaris— Amaris, I'm going to pull the branch out—"
"NO!" she screamed, shaking her head. "No, no, no—"
Another figure swooped in. She heard Hayley's voice, but it was muffled. She felt the branch exit, and felt blood being pressed on her lips, but she didn't recall if she drank or not. All she saw was darkness.
"Amaris."
She woke up, and saw she was in the Compound. An unfamiliar woman was sitting at her side, caressing her head.
She scrambled into a seated position, lifting her shirt to check her abdomen. The scar from before was the same.
"Hello," said the woman, trying to get her attention.
Amaris turned to her, carefully. "Who are you?"
She smiled. "Rebekah. It's good to meet you, sister."
The wolf shook her head. "Not like this," she said miserably. "I don't— I don't want this." She got to her feet. "I don't want any of this. It was a mistake, I shouldn't have come here, I shouldn't have expected things to go differently."
Rebekah frowned as Amaris started to take her clothes out of the drawers, shoving them back into the garbage bag she had brought them in. "No, wait, don't go—"
"I can't stay here!" she said, eyes sparkling with tears. "He knew! He knew and he stabbed me there on purpose!" She tried to dry her eyes, but she couldn't stop herself from crying. "I don't like it here. I want to go home... I just want to go home... I never should have left..."
"You can't leave, where will you go?"
"Anywhere but here," she said unsteadily. "I'd be willing to stay with Finn in the fucking Cemetery if it meant being away from—" she pointed in the general direction of Klaus's room. "This family doesn't want me and I was stupid to think otherwise."
Rebekah couldn't stop her from leaving.