Once Mikael is placed in the car Niklaus follows me to the cabin where Davina is still unconscious. I immediately go to her side as Cami wipes her forehead with a wet cloth. The guy Davina has befriended, also, sits next to her. Niklaus stands in the doorway unable to cross the thresh hold, stake gripped in his hand.
"We should get her to the hospital." Cami suggests.
"Oh, hello darling." The guy says to Nik as soon as he notices him by the door. "Back to huff and puff and blow the house down?"
"I'm convinced he has a death wish." I mutter to Cami as I push Davina's hair out of her face.
"You know, it's funny how often a person's sharp tongue can end up cutting their own throat." Nik vaguely threatens.
"Klaus, he's just a kid." Cami says. "Give him a break."
"Yeah. She's right." The guy replies. "You might want to try a bit of lavender under your pillow. Does wonders for stuck-up pillocks with anger issues."
"Hey, new guy." I snap. "Our help to keep him from gutting you only goes so far, so, shut up."
"I promised not to kill Davina." Nik says. "I said nothing of this insolent sod."
"Part of the reason Mikael is alive is because you killed the last boy who caught my sister's attention." I tell him standing. "Let's not repeat the same cycle. Come on." I gesture for him to follow me out of the cabin, leaving Cami with Davina.
"You had the chance to kill your father with this stake and you choose not to. You aren't going to use it on the kid either." I add.
"Fine." He sighs.
"Thank you."
Nik passes me the stake. "You and Cami go get the car. Let's take her to the hospital." I lightly smile at him.
"Cami." I call for her. "Let's get the car." She nods and stands walking over to me.
"I'm sorry for pushing you away." I apologize as we make it off the porch of the cabin.
"It's okay." She replies. "I understand."
"Doesn't make it right." I sigh. "I just couldn't handle the thought of losing someone else in this life, especially if they don't have to be involved."
"I'm involved. Human or not."
"I realize that now." I tell her. "And thank you for standing up for Davina."
"You never have to thank me for that. I care about her, too."
We approach the car and I open the driver's door, before a sharp pain radiates in my neck, and everything goes black.
____________________
I groan when I feel my cheek being lightly, but repeatedly patted. My body is on fire and my brain is foggy. My vision comes into focus, and I see a panicked Cami leaning over me. Her eyebrows scrunched in concern. I groan again pulling my hand up to my forehand, the pounding getting more intense.
"What happened?" I croak.
"Mikael." Cami tells me, helping me sit up. "He pulled Papa Tunde's blade out of his chest. He took us. He wants to use us as leverage to distract Klaus, so he can kill him."
"His parents, I swear." I groan again. "Where are we?" I register the music coming from somewhere.
"He's been dragging us through the woods. But he's weak and needed to feed on a deer. We, unfortunately, came across a bonfire party." She cringes. "He is now compelling them to slow Klaus down."
"Lovely." I say weakly. "Why do I feel like I got hit by a truck?" I mutter to myself.
"He injected you with something." She explains. "I'm sorry. I tried to warn you, but he had me by the throat about to snap my neck."
"It's not your fault." I reassure her. "It's probably vervain. Davina more than likely had some at the cabin as a weapon for Nik."
"Well, well, well look who's awake." Mikael's disgusting voice sounds as he comes through the trees. "Don't attempt to run. You're far too weak to take the human with you. Besides, I am stronger than you and I'd catch you and have to kill your friend in front of you."
"Go to hell." I spit, not as loud as I'd like.
"You need to learn respect." He grits out. "But, unfortunately, for you you won't live long enough for a lesson."
____________________
Mikael has to carry me over his shoulder, because I'm still pretty weak. He's dragging Cami behind him by her arm. By the time we make it to a decently sized barn looking building, the sun has come out.
He takes us into the building. I let out a dramatic sigh of relief. "Thank god. Being this close to you is torture. I've been fighting the urge to vomit all over you."
"Shut up." He barks at me.
"I used to try to convince Klaus that there was good in everyone, that you really did care about him... deep inside once." Cami says as Mikael tosses me on the ground, sending her down too. I gasp in pain, my body being insanely sore. "He told me I was naïve, that I could never fathom how deep your hatred ran."
"I didn't always hate him." Mikael says as he stands over us with the stake. "When Niklaus was born, I was overjoyed. I thought, this one... this one has the eyes of a warrior. He will be worthy. But my hope was short-lived." I slide my hand to Cami's, grabbing her fingers and squeezing them. As Mikael was talking, he was aimlessly walking. "And when I found out he wasn't really my son, my relief was glorious! But that passed with the knowledge that he was begat of a beast."
"His mother's infidelity was not his fault." Cami defends.
"Everything that followed was because of Niklaus' obsession with the wolves." Mikael exclaims. "He ventured out to watch them turn under the full moon, and he took my youngest son, Henrik. He was but a child. And he was torn apart."
"It was an accident!" I snap. "Nik was a child, too."
"An accident!?" Mikael yells, a vein popping out of his forehead. "He murdered my wife! His own mother who sought to cleanse him of his beast-like nature. He betrayed me. He turned my entire family against me. And yet you defend him." I struggle to stand even with Cami's help.
"You abused their brother, someone they love, you turned your family against yourself. And your wife is a bitch. I'd kill her too." I tell him. Anger flashes across his face. Cami's grip around my waist, to help me stand, tightens.
"I have desperately tried to convince him not to kill you, that the bloodshed in your family does not have to be an endless cycle." Cami exclaims raising her voice, before Mikael can do or say anything to me. "And after centuries on this earth, do you really not see that all of your violence is pointless?"
Mikael begins to laugh. "Let me hazard a guess. You are one of these alienists, right?" Cami rolls her eyes and uses her free hand to wipe the tears that have escaped down her face.
"We're called therapists these days." She tells him. "And to be honest, you could use some couch time."
"Actually, my dear, since my wound does not appear to be healing, what I could do with right now is some food." Mikael replies. The deer in the woods not being enough to fully strengthen him, since he technically needs human or vampire blood.
"You... you said you wouldn't." Cami says backing us up as best she can and trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
"Yes, I did, didn't I?" He says slowly walking closer. I glare at him, wishing I was strong enough. "And all of the blood of a fawn barely makes for good fodder." He vamp speeds and grabs Cami, snatching her away from me. I gasp and hit the ground. Fear courses through my veins at the sight of him holding her so she was face to face with him. His eyes filled with hate and rage. The veins appearing under his eyes. "In times of need, even the devil eats flies." Then his bites into her neck and Cami screams in agony.
"NO!" I yell in protests crawling towards them. Mikael kicks me away making me fall back. Cami is unconscious when he removes his fang.
Footsteps enter the building and Mikael turns Cami, so her back is against his chest. Her head is flopped back onto his shoulder, and he places the blade across her neck. I sit up as best I can, using my arms as support, just in time for Nik to enter through the doorway. Nik glances at Cami and then me, in my weakened state, before turning to his father, fury in his eyes.
"You're gonna pay for hurting them." Nik threatens pointing a quickly made stake at him. Mikael let's Cami fall to the floor. I try to catch her, but all I really do is catch her head before it hits the ground. I position her head in my lap and check her pulse. It's low but there.
"Oh, that's sweet." Mikael taunts. "The cur whines for his bitches. I'll make sure to drain the rest of her and then I'll do Kelsey, once the vervain wears off, right in front of your eyes just before you burn."
Nik launches himself across the room and tackles Mikael. They both quickly jump up and face each other. Mikael shoves Niklaus into a wall trying to force the white oak stakes into Nik's heart. Nik grabs the stake and pushes it away against Mikael's force. Cami stirs a bit, coming back into consciousness. Nik moves to the side and knees Mikael in the gut, before backhanding him across the face. Then, he tackles Mikael through a cement wall.
They walk out of the destruction of the wall and Nik throws Mikael on his back. I help Cami sit up next to me. Mikael tries to stab Nik with the stake from his position on the ground, but Nik grabs his hand and twists it back round so it was pointed at Mikael. Niklaus straddles Mikael's torso, fighting against Mikael's strength. Mikael grunts as he attempts to push the stake away.
"I'm not as weak as you remember, am I?" Nik asks rhetorically.
Cami and I stand up, just as Mikael uses his free hand to throw Tunde's blade. It stops inches in front of my nose, as Nik vamp speeds to catch it. Mikael appears beside Nik and twists the blade out of his hand, before burying the white oak stake into his heart. Nik screams in agony.
"NO!" I yell as Mikael shoves him away. I run after him, but Mikael backhands me across the face.
I watch as Nik drops to the ground. He looks at me, slowly losing consciousness. Tears fall freely from my eyes as I maintain eye contact. My stomach becomes incredibly nauseous. Gray veins creep over over his skin. Nik falls to his back and dies. I gasp in shock, Cami rubbing my back. She, also, has tears streaming down her face. Mikael stands over Nik, staring down at his body. Waiting.
"Why aren't you burning?!" Mikael says in frustration. Hope replaces the despair in my body. "If you were dead, you would burn. Burn!" Mikael's head snaps to the side, before taking off.
I quickly crawl as fast as I can in my weak state, over to Nik's body and Cami follows. She gets on one side and I get on the other. We both nod at each other and place our hands on the stake.
"Come on, Nik." I beg as Cami and I pull the stake up as hard as we can. It takes all the strength we have combined to remove it, but soon it is out of his chest. "Nik?"
Mikael reenter the room and I quickly turn around holding the stake out in defense, crouched in front of Nik and Cami. "What do you think you're doing?" Mikael inquires.
"Stay the fuck away from us." I warn him, feed up with him. "Or I swear I will run you through with this stake."
"You have a warriors heart." Mikael smirks. "Perhaps I'll keep it as a souvenir."
He vamp speed at us, but is cut off by Marcel. Marcel throws punch after punch pushing him back. Mikael gains the upper hand, tripping Marcel, making him fall onto his back. Then, he holds a long piece of broken wood over his body.
"Now enough!" Mikael yells. "This night has been a long parade of fools. I'll enjoy killing every last one of you."
I stand up, adrenaline flooding my body. I hold the stake ready, in case I have to use it. Hayley appears behind Mikael and throws a chain around his throat. "I wouldn't bet on it." She says as she yanks turning him to face her. Then, she punches him across the face with the chain wrapped around her fist.
Marcel jumps up and stands ready beside Cami. Nik comes up behind me and places his hand on my lower back. "Oh, thank god." I mutter, relief spreading through my body at seeing him standing. Davina comes in and stands slightly in front of me. Hayley takes her place a few steps in front of Cami and Marcel.
"It's over, Mikael." Nik walks forward, removing his hand from my back. "You're outnumbered. Are you going to beg for your miserable life?"
Mikael chuckles. "You think having people makes you strong? It proves how weak you are. Come find me when you don't have fools, women, and children fighting your battles." He throws his broken wooden piece at our feet and then he vamps away.
Once, he's gone the adrenaline leaves my body. Pain radiates through my limbs and my head. In my prereferral I see Davina look over at me. Her face turns to concern. She reaches out and catches me as my legs buckle and we both go to the ground.
"Kelsey?" She panics.
"I'm okay. I'm okay." I croak out as everyone gathers around me.
"Mikael loaded her with vervain." Cami explains.
Nik crouches on my other side and looks at Davina. Davina scrunches her eyebrows together, before slightly nodding. Nik places his arm around my back and under my knees, lifting me up off the ground.
"I gotcha, Love." He mutters to me. I wrap my arm around his should blades and let my head rest on his shoulder. I could feel everyone's eyes burning into us, but I was too tired and in too much pain to care. Davina nods at me and I attempt to smile at her, before she exits the building.
Everyone exits the room, but Nik and I. Nik sits me down on a few pallets. He glances me over as my eyes lock on the hole in his shirt. He follows my gaze as I lift my hand and place it where the stake was imbedded. He puts his hand over mine to keep it on his chest. I allow my eyes to meet his.
"You scared me today." I whisper.
"You and Cami pulled the stake out in the nick of time." Nik reassures me. "A moment longer, and I would have been done for."
"Thank god for Davina and her friend doing the spell to depower it." I breath out. "I should have told you to kill him while Tunde's blade was in his chest."
"Well, he hurt you." Nik replies as I drop my hand from his chest. "For that alone, I would kill him. You know, in a thousand years, I think it's the first time I've seen him run."
"He knew he was outmatched." Hayley says walking up to us with Marcel and Cami.
"We checked the perimeter, and he's definitely gone." Marcel informs us.
"I appreciate your assistance." Nik thanks them.
"Well, hey. You die, I die. Just call me selfish." Marcel smiles, but I know that's not the only reason he came to help.
"Sure." Cami nods sarcastically. "That's why you helped."
"Yeah." Hayley nods. "You die, a lot of people die. But, Klaus, we have another problem." I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion.
"What could possibly be wrong now?" I inquire.
"Elijah and Oliver are missing." Hayley reveals. "They were helping us get a bunch of werewolf kids out of Esther's hands. Finn was about to have them all trigger there curse. Elijah and Oliver have been missing since."
"Well." I say attempting to stand, using the pallets to balance me. "Let's go get them."
"You won't be getting anyone." Niklaus denies. "You are going home to bed."
I scoff. "I just need some blood and I'll be fine." I roll my eyes.
"Kelsey..." Nik begins to protest.
"Nik." I sigh. "You're not going to change my mind. I'll be fine, I promise." Nik huffs in defeat, making my smirk. Hayley, Cami, and Marcel's faces covered in surprise that he didn't continue to fight me on it.