CHAPTER XXXVI
❝ Youngest brother among the Mikaelsons, if you don't happen to remember. ❞
Surprisingly, Casper wasn't among those who would call attention to themselves unnecessarily. He was a well-sorted person, knowing exactly what he wants with his life; however, unfortunately, not knowing how to manage his relationships.
He, somehow, always ended up getting stuck between his father and Lucy. Choosing between the two was the most difficult task he had ever had to do. And this task had emerged once again and, sadly, without Casper being aware. And, unknowingly, he had chosen Lucy this time by killing the bartender.
"Casper, Casper, Casper, wouldn't it have been better to simply leave a SMS or drop a miss call or voicemail? Was there really the need to kill someone?" said Lucy, sarcasm dripping from her tone, to Casper on the phone call which she had immediately dialled after reaching her hotel room.
"I've been trying to contact you for so long and you've been ignoring me. And whose number are you calling from?"
"Oh," Lucy facepalmed. She had carried only one phone of hers and left all the others back in Mystic Falls. Casper couldn't contact her no matter how hard he tried. "I left my phone back there in Mystic Falls. It's my other phone. So sorry that was the reason you couldn't contact me. But why in the name of merlin did you kill someone?"
"I wasn't planning to. I just intended to talk to you, alone. I located you there but you weren't even there."
"I was at the terrace. Having dinner."
"With Klaus Mikaelson, I presume."
Lucy nearly wanted to roll her eyes but didn't, forgetting for a moment that he ain't watching her.
"I can assure you that 'that' shouldn't bother you in the least. I'm pretty sure that I'm quite grown up enough to make my own decisions myself."
Lucy was pleasantly surprised at the fact that she didn't start a fight.
She kinda held her 'date night' responsible for her pleasant mood.
"Yeah, I know that." sighed Casper. "And I didn't say anything this time actually."
"I mean, it was just a pre-advice." she shrugged, preferring to stand by the huge window by her bed to look over at the perfect view of the magnificent Italy. "But then why did you kill her?"
"Firstly, she was a vampire." he explained as if that was enough to kill someone. "And secondly, she was acting very suspicious. In fact she was the one who told me that you went with 'the Hybrid', her words not mine, and called you Lucia. How else would know all this if she wasn't connected to the supernatural world? I even felt her vampire signature."
"I didn't feel that." Lucy frowned. Bella didn't give any vampire vibes.
"You wouldn't have focused on it. I did. She was acting all cryptic. She even knew my name without me telling her."
"How did you manage to kill her with so many people in there?"
"I had to turn us invisible. That's why I'm pretty sucked up right now."
"Yeah, you always did lack in this spell a lot." hummed Lucy.
"You're not gonna ask me what I wanted to talk about?"
"Yeah, I wanna know what is so important that you have to travel across the world to get to me."
"Not on call. Is it possible to meet somewhere?"
"Come over, I'll text you the location. We can talk here safely. See ya."
Casper took hardly fifteen minutes to arrive. He was clad in a formal suit which clashed against the pyjamas Lucy had changed into.
They both occupied the couch as Lucy popped open the whiskey and poured him a glass which he readily accepted. It seemed as if he was trying to drown his sorrows.
He appeared very tense. His hair was dishevelled from all the tugging he'd done on them. There was a wild look in his eye. Not of violence. Not of anger. Of regret.
"Are you sick or somethin'?" asked Lucy, looking at him worriedly. "Don't tell me you finally caught up to cancer."
Casper managed a weak chuckle. But turned back serious almost immediately.
"Before I start you must know that no one else should know of what I'm going to talk about." he began, rolling his shoulders as if to gather the courage.
"Okay." she nodded, albeit slightly perplexed. "This will stay between us."
"You read that letter I left?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah. Yours and Richard's. Both." she nodded, finally dawning on her what topic he was opening.
"Then you must know what I'm talking about?"
"Yeah, my father's obsession to bring the love of his life back to life."
"Ya, and that obsession had been, unfortunately, going through some serious amplifications."
"You were saying the same thing last time. And nothing happened."
"Cause you ran like hell that time." muttered Casper. "I shouldn't be digging up old graves but you do know I was right the time before that."
"It's alright." Lucy closed her eyes momentarily. "He killed the person closest to me. But he failed. Steve definitely didn't come back."
"And you love your father despite that. It's admirable."
"I just respect him. Nothing more or less. I failed to protect my loved one the first time. Got extremely paranoid the second time, but nothing happened. So, this time I'm opting no paranoism. Because I know my father. And, besides, if the worst comes to worst, there are a lot of people in Mystic Falls to help me."
"Do you think they would stand a chance against him?" he raised a brow at her.
"Yes, when I know his weaknesses."
This piped up his curiosity.
"Weaknesses?"
Lucy nearly smirked. "About a decade ago, I learnt this spell in Tuscany - almost why Italy is my favourite- which allows you to project memories in someone's head, yours or theirs or anybody's, doesn't matter. Somewhat like the Originals. But the bonus point is that you could do it from a mile away with only a belonging of that person. And I just happen to possess the thing that's currently the most dear to him. That book, the one he sent me himself. If physical defeat ain't possible then I'll opt anytime for the mental one."
"Yeah." he sighed. "He has caused you enough mental pain to have it coming someday. I knew you wouldn't stay quiet if he would try that again."
"I'll keep it the last option, if things turn pretty violent. I won't do that to him knowing how much pain it actually causes. Besides, I know he won't stoop down this low. He won't sacrifice such a pure soul or else he'll be cursed forever, he knows it. It'll kill him knowing what he's doing. So, I'm pretty sure everything will be just fine."
"However, the index of that book is pretty long if you read it. He could make you do any of the other things." Casper shrugged, pouring himself another glass.
"All of them are wild theories. And it'll be completely fine if he knows not of my increasing relations with the Originals."
"About that...." said Casper slowly, making her face fall.
"He knows?"
"He just knows that you're introduced to them due to the whole Esther linking you drama. It won't be long before he will call asking you to get in their good books."
"He has gone crazy." she muttered. "Like he always had been."
"He has many other options but he's been insistent on 'a loved one for a loved one'."
"How do you even know all this?" she asked abruptly. "Richard said it's supposed to be a secret and all."
"He trusts me." he said simply. "But how can you be still so sure that he won't do it this time? He has done it once, he can do it again."
"Because of some reason he didn't do it last time. And I know that for the same reason he won't do it this time as well."
"His second option for the sacrifice is Stefan Salvatore. You know that?"
"Yeah, I know. But Stefan doesn't." she sighed. "I mean, if his stupid-ass theory is correct, wouldn't it require one sacrificing a 'father-like-figure', not a friend or lover?"
Little did she knew that she will wish that she would have been paranoid, so fucking paranoid that she would have ran from that cursed town the first chance she got.
And Casper Daldron didn't know that he will be the one to wish this the most.
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Lucy's look for the rest of the chapter ~
Apparently, Mystic Falls went haywire without any witches there. Elena had killed the hunter and as per Klaus, was undergoing hallucinations right now.
"Klaus has got Elena and captivated her somewhere to stop her from killing herself. He says it's the hunter's curse making her mad." Stefan's voice rang from the speaker of Lucy's phone the moment they'd boarded the jet and were thousands of feet above the land.
"Seems like he left Italy last night only then." she muttered.
"How do you know that he was in Italy? Have you guys been talking?"
"Well, firstly, you're on speaker and I've Bonnie and Jamie here with me right now."
"Hello, Stefan." the other two passengers choroused.
"And, secondly, if you remember, we three are in Italy or at least were. He stumbled into us at a club, and so did Kol."
"So did who?" he questioned with extreme exaggeration.
Jamie had to stifle a laugh at the excessive shock in his voice.
"Kol. Kol Mikaelson. Youngest brother among the Mikaelsons, if you don't happen to remember." Lucy rolled her eyes.
Bonnie just pursed her lips awkwardly.
"That 'Kol'? What was he doing there?" he questioned accusingly.
"Yeah, Stefan that Kol. And I don't know what he was doing in Italy. He was travelling with his girlfriend, human and unaware. So, if you're done then we could have our witchy opinion on the matter on hand."
"Okay, sure. So, Elena is stuck and I need to get her out." Stefan sighed.
"But why? I mean she is safe there, right? Nik must have had her there for a reason. He is protecting her."
"Nik?" he exclaimed, unimpressed. Lucy could imagine his eyes widening as he spoke. He was playing the role of the protective big bro so perfectly. "You're calling him Nik now? What have you guys been up to? What's going on? Are you-"
"Stefan, you're on speaker." Lucy heaved an annoyed sigh. "And, please let's focus on Elena. She's in danger, right? This can wait."
"No, this can't!" he exclaimed. "Lucy, what's goin' on-?"
The rest of the voice was drowned as Lucy turned off the speaker and adjusted the phone against her ear, looking apologetically at the other two passengers.
"-oh my god, you're scaring me now. Don't tell me you both are dating or something? It's a bad idea, an absolutely bad idea. Hello, hello, are you even listening, Lucy?"
"Yes, Stefano, I am listening." she sighed. "I understand what you're saying but we can talk about this in person when I'm there, can we? I think our priority is Elena right now."
"Fine." he huffed childishly. "But this conversation is far from over."
"Absolutely. Now about Elena and I'm turning the phone back on speaker, alright?"
"Yeah, fine."
Lucy turned it back on the speaker as Bonnie and Jamie refocused on the conversation.
"She has this curse called the Hunter's Curse because she killed Conner. The hunter will do his last kill before departing and apparently that would be Elena. He will appear in different forms to her and torment her to such an extent that she'll take her own life. It's a witch's curse, there probably would be some way to undo this."
"From what we gathered on that day of our search had nothing to do with the curse. It only talked about the mark." Bonnie spoke up, making Lucy nod in agreement.
"Yeah. We actually never heard of this before."
"But can you search on it?" Stefan heaved a sigh.
"Yeah. We'll be landing in an hour or so. Don't worry. We'll look on it as soon as we reach."
"Thank you." he said sincerely. "Really, both of you. It means a lot."
"We're happy to help, Stefan. Anything for Elena." Bonnie smiled.
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A/n:
So originally this chapter was very long but then I broke it up into two chapters.
So, let's jump to the next chapter<3<3 which will be published soonnn (good stuff on the way)
I thought of doing a double update then thought of giving at least one chapter first 😂😂
Until then,
Ripahhhhhhhhhh.
Word Count : 2044